Movie Review: The Daughter

It’s always a relief when there’s a good Australian film.

These are films that bring the frequently-denigrated name of Australian cinema up to the stature and prestige of Oscar-winning American indies.

Movies unlike recent atrocities such as A Few Best Men and Bran Nue Dae; both of them being films that perpetually answer your question of tossing up between the new homemade flick or literally anything else.

There has been a moderate increase in films that are both actually good and inherently Australian (i.e. ones that use the normally egregious clichés of Australia to their advantage), such as Animal Kingdom and Last Cab to Darwin.

And then there’s their shadow: good Australian films that don’t feel Australian (i.e. ones that subvert aforementioned clichés entirely, and focus on telling a universally-felt story). One of those films is Hugh Sullivan’s stunning and tragically overlooked The Infinite Man. The Daughter is one of these films too, but whether it can be called anything better than “really good” is dubious.

The Daughter is helmed by theatre director Simon Stone (who acted in Jindabyne, a film that fits into the good, Australian-feeling category), who adapts his own adaption of Henrik Ibsen’s play The Wild Duck (whoa, that’s like the Inception of adaptions).

It tracks the story of Christian (American Paul Schneider), who returns to a dying New South Wales town to attend his father Henry’s (national treasure Geoffrey Rush) wedding to a much younger woman, Anna (Anna Torv). Whilst there, he reconnects with Oliver (Ewen Leslie), his high school friend, and his family – father Walter (consistently great Sam Neill), wife Charlotte (Miranda Otto), and daughter Hedvig (newcomer Odessa Young).

But, as Mark Bradshaw’s eerie score suggests, something is not quite right. There’s a general feeling of unease as a deeply-buried family secret is gradually uncovered, revealing layer after layer of nuance in this very complex film. It gathers speed and arrives at one of the best endings I’ve seen in cinema; one that is sure to spark lengthy discussions during the end credits. (At my screening, there was an audible gasp when the film cut to black.)

However, the story picks up speed far too late in the film, somewhat startling the audience who at this point are likely slipping into boredom. Moreover, at this point, the pace picks up much too quickly, to the point where intercut scenes occur concurrently. This jarring effect overwhelms, rather than elevates the film’s mood.

Nevertheless, the film’s atmosphere is in turn breathtaking and suffocating, in line with the narrative beats, and accentuated by Andrew Commis’ subdued cinematography (which is to be expected – after all, he shot The Rocket).

For a first-time film director to have sustained a mood such as this is impressive, as is the wonderful acting he guided. It’s a near-perfect harmony of an intricately-written script, filled with a veritable iceberg of symbolism and meaning, coupled with acting that teases out these complexities.

Everyone is doing great work here, particularly Odessa Young (who is far better here than she is in the confounding Looking for Grace) as the titular daughter. She is right at home with the smorgasbord of great Australian actors.

This is the next good Australian film, and the fact that it’s so deeply complex renders it endlessly fascinating. And so, it really is disappointing that I can’t be more enthusiastic in its praise. Ultimately, The Daughter is simply, really good.

4/5

In cinemas March 17. Rated M for mature themes, coarse language and sex scenes.

Kyle Uglow-Turpin is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. Learn more about the contributors program.