‘Daughter’ is a mystery centering around a young woman who is kidnapped and inducted into an aberrant family. Serving as the ‘daughter’ of the unit, the young girl tries to make sense of her surroundings and to escape her captor.
The film opens with the Father and Brother chasing a young girl down and beating her to death. Thereafter, another young woman is shown to be brought to the family home and chained up in the garage. Dubbed ‘Daughter,’ (or ‘Sister’ when appropriate) Father explains to the woman that she must play the part of Daughter to complete their family. Heavily focused on religious teachings, Father is shown to lecture Brother on readings of the bible, reinforcing the idea that their homestead must retain its integrity and purity, dismissing the outside world as sick and dangerous.
After spending time with Brother, Daughter learns that he has never been outside, as Father has told him the outside air is poisonous. In conversing with Mother, Daughter also uncovers she is not Brother’s biological mother, with Mother warning Daughter not to step out of line to ensure her own survival.
In connecting with Brother, Daughter suggests the two put on a play for his birthday. In writing the story, friction develops between Daughter and Father, as she toes the line in broadening Brother’s horizons, telling him of the outside world and introducing him to a different way of thinking, much to Father’s dismay.
As Daughter and Brother put on an unconventional show, Father is enraged and has an outburst, hurting the children. Mother takes the opportunity and makes her escape, telling Brother to run before taking off into the night. Snapping, Brother takes a hammer to the back of Father’s head and bludgeons him to death.
In shock, Daughter and Brother make their escape. Driving through the night, Daughter sits with Brother as the two wear gas masks. Asking him to trust her, Daughter removes her mask and invites Brother to do the same when he feels comfortable. After removing the mask, Daughter tells Brother she is off to call for help, with the film concluding on Brother watching her walk off.
A valiant effort, Corey Deshon’s directorial debut delivers a suspenseful and intriguing tale of survival and mystery. The main focus of the feature is Daughter (Megan Le) as she is forced into a dangerous situation and made to be a part of an odd family that is yet to reveal the full extent of its activities and beliefs.
The film unfolds slowly, delivering nuggets of information at pace to retain an air of mystery throughout its runtime. As Daughter learns more of the way of life within the house, what Father’s reasons for keeping Brother in the house may be and in trying to develop an exit strategy, ‘Daughter’ exemplifies a solid mystery. The film introduces many unexpected turns, raising questions that only add to the secrets that are kept by the family.
Evenly paced, the story unfolds to reveal that not only is Daughter an unwilling participant in the act, but Mother (Elyse Dinh) has also been subjugated by Father. Remaining intense until the very end, Mother’s motivations remain unclear, until her character is revealed through her act of self preservation, as she runs for her life without taking the time to help the children. Revealing the unexpected, 'Daughter' delivers a maternal character who values her own life above that of the rest, distinguishing 'Daughter' as a more nefarious feature than is commonly expected.
At the core of what can be described as the big bad of the film is Father (Casper Van Dien). Serving as an enigmatic figure with religious leanings, the film succeeds in establishing a sense of dread every time Van Dien can be seen on screen. Ultimately however, even though the character delivers on unpredictability and fear, the core of Father’s motivations remain shrouded in mystery, somewhat undercutting the climax of the film.
With an eventful and suspenseful build-up, ‘Daughter’ dares to venture beyond a simple kidnapping story. Tying in religious overtones to the story, the film illustrates the little ways through which people who are suppressed under a certain regime will always strive to find even the littlest ways in which to express themselves, how to retain even a little bit of humanity and find joy through art.
Somewhat disappointingly however, the film introduces a few too many threads, muddling the focus of the feature and leaving too many loose ends open to interpretation. At one point, as Daughter tries to send a message to the outside world, for anyone to come to her aid in trying to escape the house, after the message is read by an outsider, it is simply discarded of. This may well be interpreted as a general lack of interest or concern of people, however a further examination of how and why the message was discarded of may have served to deliver a greater impact for the Daughter’s attempt, and ultimately failure, to reach out to someone for help.
Contained almost entirely within the four walls of the house in which Daughter is trapped, ‘Daughter’ provides for a suffocating experience, as Daughter has to watch every move she makes not to push Father’s boundaries, as well as being physically chained and trapped within the confines of the house. Not exceeding it’s grasp however, ‘Daughter’ dips into exploring what it means to be confined both physically and mentally, as Father tries to force the family to conform to a certain way of thinking, disallowing for and underestimating the unwillingness of others to be restricted and restrained in their way of thinking.
Score: 3/4
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