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Film Review: Daughters (2024)

Writer's picture: Bryan LoomisBryan Loomis

Author: Bryan Loomis


A great documentary starts with a great subject - it’d be pretty hard to take this subject and make a film that wasn’t good. To the filmmakers’ credit, though, Patton and Rae know when they have a winning image to feature. The shot of the men sitting in a hallway and craning their necks to see their daughters coming, trying to look past all the other men doing the same, is the type of moment a documentarian dreams of. Patton and Rae also know when to go wide and when to go narrow - there’s one daddy/daughter pairing of Aubrey and Keith that gets pushed to the forefront, and it’s well chosen, as it drives home some of the themes of the movie. One small misstep is some music choices that are more Netflix docuseries territory than truly letting the images speak for themselves, but thankfully those choices aren’t pervasive.


This movie is just a heartrending catalyst for change. I’d dare anyone to watch this and still come out thinking imprisonment is a good idea. We don’t see harsh prison conditions or daily life other than the video booths and a focus on the meager visitation allowances these men get. Everything is mentioned offhand - a vague hope for early release, court dates pushed back for no reason, men shuttled across state lines to different prisons over the years. Yet the film highlights these mens’ humanity and their daughters’ need for their fathers in their lives. These men are dying to be there for their daughters, but the incarceration system is literally dictating their ability to do so with arbitrary limits.



The exception is this Date with Dad program, which is thoughtfully run and such a powerful moment to witness. Daughters is more powerful for highlighting primarily a good and joyful event that brings these men and their daughters together. Seeing the bad of imprisonment is one thing, but seeing this one powerful evening of connection while knowing that it’s the sole exception to the rule is quite another. We see Aubrey and Keith years later, when Aubrey has lost some level of childlikeness that made her father’s incarceration more tolerable, and she hasn’t been able to be physically present with her father since the dance. The reality of the situation has fully set in for Aubrey now, and she’s put up a barrier to protect herself. The film lets this moment breathe and speak for itself, again the right choice. Precious years have been lost.

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