Netflix film “His Three Daughters”, which was released a few days ago, trusts its main cast members for going up and down within its modest but intense chamber family drama, and I enjoyed that a lot. As its three main characters clash with each other in one way or another, we get to know about them as well as their troubled relationships, and it surely earns all the emotions unfolded along the story.

The movie opens with a rather awkward private conversation among three sisters: Katie (Carrie Coon), Rachel (Natasha Lyonne), and Christina (Elizabeth Olsen). Their ailing father, who has been taken care of by Rachel during last several years, seems to be going through the last few days of his life, and Katie and Christina, who have respectively lived away from Rachel and their father, come to Rachel and their father’s old apartment for having their last moment with him.

As they are merely waiting for their father’s death which may come sooner or later, we gradually gather some personal details about them. While Katie is often frigid as taking care of several matters including making her father sign a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR), Christina is usually trying to make the situation less unpleasant for everyone including herself, and Rachel, who is incidentally the daughter of their father’s second wife (Both of his two wives already died, by the way), does not look that responsible as frequently smoking marijuana, though it is undeniable that she is the one who has always stood by their father during his ongoing period of illness.

It goes without saying that Katie does not approve much of how Rachel has responded to their ongoing circumstance, and that naturally becomes the main source of tension along the story. As they frequently conflict with each other over one matter of another, Christina is always the one who must calm down her two sisters, but then there eventually comes a point where she almost runs out of her patience.

Meanwhile, several other people come and go as they continue to wait for their father’s death. A hospice worker and a nurse make a routine visit on their father, and both of these figures show some care and compassion to them and their father as seasoned professionals. As a matter of fact, the hospice worker carefully suggests to them that an “accident” can happen to shorten their father’s ongoing pain before his eventual death, but they decide to keep waiting instead of doing such a questionable thing like that.

Another crucial supporting character in the story is Rachel’s boyfriend, who drops by her residence for giving some comfort and consolation. Like us, he instantly discerns the emotional distance between Rachel and her two stepsisters, and he sharply points out to Katie and Christina that Rachel actually feels more pain and grief for having been with their father all the time.

The third act of the story becomes melodramatic as the three sisters come to express more anger, sadness, and resentment among them, but the movie never loses its control as immersing us more into their situation. While looking a bit static at first, the cinematography by Sam Levy gradually becomes fluid in its subtle movements, and we come to observe more of the accumulating emotional tension among the main characters.

The screenplay by director/writer/editor/co-producer Azazel Jacobs also did a splendid job of fleshing out its main characters more along the narrative. While Katie turns out to have held a lot of frustration with her own life behind her rather haughty façade, Christina is revealed to have her own personal doubt behind her sunny attitude, Rachel comes to show more thoughtfulness behind her rather messy appearance.

In case of the finale, I will not tell you anything except that I really admire how effortlessly Jacobs and his main cast members deliver the emotional high point of the story. At first, I thought the movie showed a bit too much of what is going on among its main characters, but, what do you know, there comes an unexpectedly sublime moment to behold, and you will surely appreciate the emerging poignancy behind it.

The three main cast members of the film are all terrific in each own way. While Carrie Coon, who has steadily risen since I and many others noticed her substantial supporting turn in David Fincher’s “Gone Girl” (2014), ably imbues enough humanity to her rather edgy character, Nathasha Lyonne, who has been more notable thanks to her breakthrough turn in Netflix TV series “Orange Is the New Black”, is splendid as slowly revealing her character’s complex emotional issues, and Elizabeth Olsen, who is capable of doing many other things besides those Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) products, is equally excellent as deftly holding her own place between her two co-starts. In case of several minor supporting performers in the movie, Jovan Adepo, Rudy Galvan, Jose Febus, and Jasmine Bracey are all solid in their respective parts, and the special mention goes to Jay O. Sanders, who has a fabulous showstopper moment later in the story.

In conclusion, “His Three Daughters” is quite compelling thanks to its skillful handling of story, mood, and characters, and Jacobs, who previously drew my attention for “Terri” (2011) but disappointed me a bit in “French Exit” (2020), and his crew and cast members surely deserve to be praised for their superlative result. In short, this is one of the better movies from Netflix during this year, and I wholeheartedly recommend you to check it out as soon as possible.