The Daughter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

The Daughter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf April 6, 2017

“The Daughter” is an adaptation of “The Wild Duck,” an 1884 play written by Henrik Ibsen. The Norwegian playwright is not known for his cheery study of character, instead working to find behavioral and emotional authenticity in everyday interactions, building tensions from within. Writer/director Simon Stone (making his directorial debut) is determined to protect Ibsen’s solemnity in “The Daughter” while modernizing the story to fit more relatable concerns of heart and home. It’s a penetrating family saga, which braids together dysfunction and secrets to create a series of hidden betrayals uncovered as the film unfolds, and Stone confidently manages each horrific unveiling. He also sustains Ibsen’s uncompromising plotting, which ranges from cracks in the concrete to all out war, generating a wild ride of anger that brings the material to full attention. It’s dark work, but satisfying in the way it values these personalities and their individual approaches to strife.

In Australia, Henry (Geoffrey Rush) is about to close his lumber mill business that’s been a family tradition for a century, laying off hundreds of workers, including Oliver (Ewen Leslie). Son to Walter (Sam Neill), husband to Charlotte (Miranda Otto) and father to teenager Hedvig (Odessa Young), Oliver is unsure where his future will take him, but his worry is calmed by the return of Christian (Paul Schneider), Henry’s American son who’s reuniting with his estranged father to celebrate his wedding to Anna (Anna Torv), his much younger girlfriend. As Oliver and Christian revive a friendship that was cut short by family tragedy, the visiting son takes note of secrets that have not been shared between Henry and Christian, also reigniting his alcoholism when his own relationship falls apart overseas, destroying him. While Hedvig experiences the trials of adolescence, experimenting with sex and keeping up her bright spirit, Christian loses control of himself, debating whether or not to expose everything during the wedding weekend as his own unresolved grief and confusion compels him to ruin other lives.

There’s nothing idyllic about “The Daughter,” but Stone begins with a degree of normality, though one stained by the closing of the lumber mill, which is met with expected disappointment and rejection by the workers, with most realizing they have to move to find new work. However, for Henry, life goes on, returning to his luxurious home and his soon-to-be trophy wife, putting his faith into routine as wedding plans commence, welcoming Christian back to Australia after a long time apart. There’s tension in the air, and it’s not immediately clear why the son is contemptuous to the father, but Stone allows “The Daughter” is stew in moment, feeling antagonism rise within Christian, with his anger subdued by a reunion with Oliver, which returns both men to a youthful mindset when families weren’t a priority and drinking was a sport, not the disease it’s become for the American. Stone remains surprisingly economical with his writing, embracing the calm before the storm, doing a fine job of characterization as each participant is gifted some life to live before the whole neighborly network is brought to end.

While there’s a natural sense of camaraderie and reunion in “The Daughter,” theatrical origins remain. Relationships blow up in spectacular fashion, with Christian possessing knowledge that will certainly ruin everything for everyone, finding alcohol and betrayal in his own intimate relationship chipping away as his conscience, permitting him to do the unthinkable to complete his own journey of self-destruction. Hedvig experiences her own disappointments with a boyfriend who’s skittish about sex, but she’s a smart, engaged teenager being prepped for a major fall. Oliver is struggling with a future of unemployment, but he’s supported by his family, including Walter, a good-natured parent with a criminal background who keeps himself busy managing a backyard zoo of sorts, with a wounded duck (shot but spared by Henry) his most recent acquisition. And Henry is preparing for another marriage, finally confronted with decades of denial by Christian, faced with a level of personal corruption that doesn’t seem to faze him, bottling his anger. Performances are generally measured throughout, though Schneider is particularly animated as Christian, swinging hands and pacing around the frame to articulate the dam burst within the character. Young is a particular standout, capturing juvenile confusion and impulse with ease, matched superbly with Leslie, whose raw intensity serves the feature’s second half well.

The Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation brings the HD-shot feature to Blu-ray, retaining its blah digital look, which it shares with many dramatic indies. Blacks aren't inherently deep and meaningful, offered with a slightly milkier appearance that isn't supportive of complete delineation, but detail isn't smoothed out. Textures are acceptable on costuming and facial reactions, also taking in the Australian expanse, with forest visits evocative with touchable surfaces. Colors are subdued but fine, keeping drab and gray for artistic reasons, but primaries manage to find vibrancy. Skintones are natural. Some compression issues remain, including periodic banding.

The Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix doesn't bring forth any memorable surround activity, holding frontal with a steady delivery of dramatics. Dialogue exchanges are sharp and clean, capturing emotional surges without distortion. Scoring is supportive with no intrusive volume issues, offered with crisp instrumentation, and soundtrack cuts are heavier and louder. Again, surrounds aren't engaged with any regularity, but atmospherics are appreciable, feeling out locations and interior echo.

The Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (2:06, HD) is included.

The Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Keeping up with its theatrical inspiration, "The Daughter" drills down to the core with this community of broken people, as initial trouble snowballs into something incredibly painful for the conclusion. Seasoned moviegoers are likely to be one step ahead of Stone's revelations, but it doesn't dilute the impact of third act disintegration. Even with some ill-advised hysterics, "The Daughter" hits all its intended dramatic targets, and does so with refreshing thespian might, adding an interpretive conclusion that takes some post-screening processing to fully sink into. It's a powerful film, and one that effectively rattles the senses with its depiction of domestic annihilation, highlighting crisis as the ultimate tool of forgiveness.