Richard Crouse

SYNOPSIS: In “His Three Daughters,” a new family drama now playing in select theatres before moving to Netflix on September 20, three estranged sisters—Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne—come together to look after their ailing father (Jay O. Sanders). As his health declines, past issues are confronted as they attempt to put their past issues, with him and with each other, behind them.

CAST: Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Rudy Galvan, Jose Febus, Jasmine Bracey, Jay O. Sanders, and Jovan Adepo. Written and directed by Azazel Jacobs.

REVIEW:  Writer-director Azazel (“French Exit,” “The Lovers”) Jacobs infuses this story of estrangement and grief with tension, heartfelt emotion and bittersweet humor.

The dynamic between the siblings, the controlling Katie (Coon), stoner Rachel (Lyonne), who still lives in her father’s apartment and the free-spirited, Grateful Dead-loving Christina (Olsen), is colored by years of petty insults, misunderstandings and animosity.

The result is a movie that wonders aloud what connects the three very different people after their father is gone. How well do they know one another?

Turns out, they’re closer than they think. Despite the strain between them, Coon, Lyonne and Olsen find an unspoken lifetime of connection to draw from. They may be estranged, but there is a familial bond that binds them. It’s lovely, subtle work contained in the claustrophobic confines of a New York City apartment. The cramped space means they are on top of one another, forced to interact, and the movie is the better for it.

“His Three Daughters” is a raw and complicated chamber piece, one that allows its performances to engage fully with the material.

As their father’s health worsens, he becomes a nexus for their relationships in unexpected ways. “I keep waiting for the day you realize why you fight so much,” he says. It’s a heartbreaking and cathartic finale, but in its sorrow, it is a powerful statement on the healing power of love.