His Three Daughters is a phenomenal family drama about preparing to tackle the upcoming grief after a family member enters hospice care. While their father Vincent is continuously resting in his bedroom, his three daughters: Katie (Carrie Coon), Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) and Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) wait. The three have a very detached relationship as Christina lives across the country with her husband and kids, Katie lives not far from her father’s home but doesn’t visit often and Rachel lives with and has been taking care of her father as he’s gotten progressively worse. Rachel also, as notated by Katie numerous times, doesn’t share blood with the other two sisters. 

 

This dysfunctional relationship the three share at different levels of toxicity leads to an intriguing drama about navigating their own personal grief while coming together for one larger purpose - being there for their father. There should be a major debate about this limited cast and if this is in fact their career “best” performance, but all three have so much high caliber material in their filmography to compare it to, that it’s nonsensical to do so. Nevertheless, we should expect to see some serious discussion be made about this trio come awards season (especially Lyonne) as they bring a level of sacrifice, fear, depression and uncertainty in their own personal way. It's not a light hearted experience, this is a sincere take on the grieving process and having the opportunity to prepare rather than be blindsided by such a tragedy. 

 

The setting is set up like a well-constructed Broadway play - all within the close proximity of an apartment complex (in and out). This tight quarters allows the daughters to have minimal places to hide as they can’t go too far without worry of their father passing while they’re away. As the story plays out, the setting is a major part of the conversation, a home the three all grew up in during their individual childhood and a possible end to a sacred memory if it were to be let go of. 

 

As their stay becomes longer than they intended the three must come to terms with each other’s reality. Diving deep into each other’s personal lives, while never truly exiting the premises of the apartment complex. The film constructs an almost  hypnotic state and a personal heartache that anyone who has shared the fear of death can relate. Writer/Director Azazel Jacobs has written an amusing yet tortuous drama that gnaws away at any safety the viewer might feel as the time is slowly approaching. It’s a stressful experience, as one may expect from a true to life experience such as this. It’s a worthy drama that has fully encapsulated this experience into a pressure cooker of sorts through the eyes of a family awaiting their father’s final days.