What if The Scarlet Witch from the MCU, Nora Durst from The Leftovers, and Charlie Cale from Poker Face were trapped in a tiny New York City apartment for several days? I jest, in part; Elizabeth Olsen, Carrie Coon, and Natasha Lyonne play characters who are distinct from their more well-known roles, but they do get to flex their acting muscles in His Three Daughters, a dramatic chamber piece now streaming on Netflix.
The film’s story follows three semi-estranged women who reunite to guide their father through his final days of life. The astringent dialogue offers a thoughtful character study as the claustrophobic milieu facilitates a poignant meditation on death and dying. But could this film be too small and too insular to get any Oscar love?
In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Antonio, and I laud all three of these actresses for their outstanding work and, at the end of the episode, contemplate the film’s Oscar prospects. When dissecting the film itself, we contemplate why it feels so much like a stage play, debate why that might enhance or detract from the film, consider what the film has to say about death, dying, and family, and, because we couldn’t help ourselves, we share which of the three daughters we would each be.
You can hear our official plug for this at the very end of the episode, but we’d love for listeners to join us in Vulture’s Movie Fantasy League, in which players must draft 8 movies that have been pre-priced based on buzz. After registration closes tomorrow night, Thursday October 3rd at 11:59, your team can gain points for box office success (if it hasn’t come out yet), critical reception, and awards recognition. You can play this game with us by entering “The Long Take Review” as your “mini-league.” Join us in movie nerdom and all the Oscar season insanity!
We go into SPOILER MODE around the 21:57 minute mark. If you’re not yet sure whether you want to check out the film, listen up until then.
You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Image Credit: LA Times
All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.
Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com
His Three Daughters Review