His Three Daughters premiered on September 9, 2023 at the Toronto Film Festival, was released in US theaters on September 6, 2024, and will now be available on Netflix on September 20.
It is an independent film, directed and scripted by Azazel Jacobs, who had written and directed French Exit (2020) with Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Edges, and tells three days in the life of three sisters who meet in the New York apartment of their father, who is dying of cancer.
His Three Daughters (c) Sam Levy/Netflix
Natasha Lyonne plays Rachel, the younger sister, who continued to live with their father after the other two left home. Carrie Coon is Katie, the eldest, who lives in Brooklyn and is married with a teenage daughter. Elizabeth Olsen is Christina, who moved to California, has a husband and a 3-year-old girl.
What did you draw from your personal experience of life to conceive of this intimate chamber drama?
Jacobs: “I have always been very close to my parents, and I feel inspired and encouraged by them. I had moved back to New York City after many years to take care of them now that they are old. They are not dead yet, but I often felt a sense of terror at the thought of losing them, and I had seen dear friends and relatives face these painful moments of the end of a life. You go from being afraid that it will happen to expecting it from one moment to the next, from something that seemed far away but suddenly becomes imminent. Therefore I felt the need to write this film to confront my fears and my hopes, before this really happened to me. I identify with the feelings of all three daughters.”
Katie calls a doctor to have her father sign a document confirming his wish not to be resuscitated in case of death. The employee of the hospice for terminally ill patients, who stops by every day to visit them, says that it would be better to wait a few hours before calling the ambulance to prevent this from happening.
Do you act as efficiently as Katie does?
Coon: “Katie is extremely practical and demanding, considering her mission to make sure that everything happens in time and for a reason, for example that there is always food on the table, because she needs to feel useful and have a purpose. Personally I don’t think I am particularly controlling and bossy, but my four brothers and sisters certainly think so, even if I am not the eldest child in the family. But I understand Katie’s desire to delude herself that she is in control of a situation that she cannot control, and she tries to stay busy to avoid the emotional distress that this creates for her.”
Christina does yoga and meditation to maintain her emotional balance, sings Grateful Dead songs to her father.
Do you identify with the characteristics of your character?
Olsen: “I was interested in exploring her sweetness, the idea of taking care of others and herself in this holistic way. But above all I wanted to be part of this independent film experience, after which I plan to bring the spirit and integrity of Aza to my future projects.”
Rachel constantly smokes pot, but not at home, after Katie’s prohibition, she tells her father about the results of football games on which they used to make sports bets. Although she is the daughter of his second wife, she claims that he was the only dad she had ever known.
Do you understand why Rachel feels so frustrated with the behavior of her half-sisters who think they can dictate what she may do in her own house?
Lyonne: “Rachel is the daughter who always cared for her father during his illness, but she is criticized for not having had tangible successes in life, family and career. During the majority of the film she remains silent or locks herself in her room, but eventually she manages to find the courage to defend herself from the accusations and affirm her love for the father of all three daughters. However, I like her vulnerability and was interested in exploring my parents’ mortality in this fictional but instructive version. Then Aza is so sweet and generous, as innocent as a child. Working with him reminds me of the world created by Steven Spielberg in the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”
After a series of quarrels, these three sisters, such different protagonists of His Three Daughters, learn to understand each other and promise to continue their relationship even after the death of their father.