‘His Three Daughters’ is packed with emotion and a powerhouse cast

The best dramas make you feel, and if that’s the only qualifier, then “His Three Daughters“is a masterpiece. It’s not as simple as that, of course. There are other elements to consider, like plot, action and character. But this small drama by writer-director Azazel Jacobs is a quiet exploration of the most primal and wholly unavoidable human experience: the death of a loved one.

The subject, while certainly not obscure or uncommon, is not a comfortable one. Likewise, “His Three Daughters” may make viewers squirm in its language: hospice, end-of-life planning, wills and trusts, family in-fighting. They aren’t the sexiest topics to spend 100 minutes exploring, but Jacobs relays their delicate intricacies and nuances with gentle assurance. The siblings in the film’s title are played by a tour de force trio: Carrie Coons, Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne. The efficacy of the film’s one-two punch relies on the emotional depths of these three women, and the tall order is filled in spades.

Vincent (Jay O. Sanders) is on his death bed, barely gaining consciousness and confined to his room, where one of his three daughters or a hired hospice nurse sits watch. In the small New York apartment, his grown children assemble to begin the grieving process and delegate the tasks that need completing when life ends. Katie (Coons) is fixated on the “Do Not Resuscitate” signature that her stepsister Rachel (Lyonne) failed to retrieve before he entered his near-comatose state. Rachel lives with Vincent and has been caring for him, keeping him company for years, despite their lack of blood relation.

Christina (Olsen) is the mediator of the group, a mild-mannered homemaker who lives across the country and who, though much younger than the other two, has a firmly optimistic sensibility. She wants resolution and peace, not the constant bickering and turmoil that explodes through the apartment when her two sisters discuss even the most mundane topics. Rachel, who attempts to slip in and out of her room without notice and wants to avoid conflict with angry, opinionated Katie, has her own grief to bear. Lyonne, to whom we are accustomed seeing as the loud-talking, sarcastic degenerate, spends much of this film in quiet reverie, saying more with less.

In many ways, “His Three Daughters” operates like a stage play, allotting each performer the opportunity to showcase their character’s unresolved family trauma and emotional strife at the end-of-life process with varying degrees of emotive broadcast. Even Sanders, whose nearly-dead Vincent is off-screen for most of the film and whom audiences don’t expect to leave the confines of his off-camera bedside, makes a surprise appearance with one of the more touching soliloquies.

Again, the best dramas make you feel, and it’s impossible to watch “His Three Daughters” without reflecting on one’s own life. Which daughter am I in this equation: the overbearing planner, the sentimental, anxiety-driven comforter or the shut-down stalwart? How do we define family, if blood is not the necessary ingredient? Does intention or time or emotional bearing gain favor for one over the other?

Just as it’s impossible to choose a favorite child, each performance from the film’s female powerhouses is essential to the microcosm of the story. Coons’ tough-as-nails character with a bleeding underbelly showcases the cross often born by the eldest sibling. Olsen’s fragile, though uplifting handing of her older sisters is a class on character building. Lyonne, most comfortable in roles involving sharp-witted, abrasive characters, is subdued, though no less powerful in her silence.

As the film meanders through false alarms and screaming matches, its message is defined by the much-anticipated appearance of the father we don’t expect to meet in the flesh. His last-ditch effort to unite his daughters, to bolster their memory of him and to reassure them of his love may be thwarted, but the emotional bomb it detonates on the viewers has the desired effect. Appreciate life before it’s too late. Tell the ones you love all the things resting heavy on your heart. Don’t wait until the very end to unite the people who mean the most to you. Grab the tissues before you stream; this one is guaranteed to ignite waterworks.

“His Three Daughters” is streaming on Netflix now.