Geoffrey Rush plays a thoroughly dislikable character in The Daughter, a story inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, which screenwriter and director Simon Stone has also directed and adapted as a play. A slow-burn of a film, it is haunting and moody.
In the last days of a dying logging town, Christian (Paul Schneider) returns to his family home for his father Henry’s (Rush) wedding to Anna (Anna Torv) a pretty 31-year-old (Henry’s former housekeeper). Christian’s mother (Rush’s ex-wife) killed herself and Schneider has been living in the United States for 16 years. Christian’s wife is due to fly out to Australia to join her husband at the wedding, but they are having marital issues. Christian is anything but close to his father, whom he blames for his mother’s death.
While home, Christian reconnects with a close childhood friend, Oliver (Ewen Leslie), who has stayed in town working at Henry’s timber mill (which has been in the family for 100 years), but is now out of a job. A jovial and effusive chap, Oliver is married to teacher Charlotte (Miranda Otto) and they have a highly intelligent and curious daughter in Hedvig (Odessa Young). Theirs is a close and caring family, completed by the more circumspect and taciturn grandfather, Walter (Sam Neill), who has a dark past. This darkness harks back to Henry and his past relationships, which will gradually be revealed, but the consequences of his actions threaten to shatter the lives of several others.
The intricate inter-relationships in The Daughter work away at us, the audience, and get under our skin. The atmospherics suggest that something sinister is afoot, but just what is yet to be revealed. While patience is required, the reward is there for those that persevere. Mind you, it is tough going for a while and not everyone will appreciate where it is heading. I thought the ending could have been made even more shattering than it is and, as such, may well have been more appropriate given the direction the screenplay took.
Odessa Young (Looking for Grace) is excellent as the exuberant girl on the edge of adulthood, looking to find herself and not afraid to experiment. Ewen Leslie, too, is well drawn as the big-hearted dynamo. I can’t say that I felt the same way about Paul Schneider, who I found less than convincing or believable in the role he took as the spoiler. Rush – who brings with him calm restraint – has relatively little to do here in spite of the fact that it is Henry who sets off the chain of events that follow.
Best for those with a strong constitution or a threshold for angst, The Daughter is thought provoking adult drama. Rated M, it scores a 7½ out of 10.
Director: Simon Stone
Cast: Paul Schneider, Geoffrey Rush, Anna Torv, Ewen Leslie, Miranda Otto, Odessa Young, Sam Neill
Release Date: 17 March 2016
Rating: M – Mature themes, coarse language and sex scene
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
