I’ve been eagerly awaiting the Netflix release of “His Three Daughters” all summer long. Back in June, I labeled it my “most anticipated Netflix movie of the year”, and with expectations that high, there’s always a danger that the final project will disappoint.
Fortunately, “His Three Daughters” (which landed on Netflix on September 20) met and even exceeded my expectations. It was everything I wanted. The drama is anchored by three impeccable performances from Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne, and tells a tender and emotionally captivating that plays out with relatable honesty. It’s one just one of the best Netflix movies of 2024, but one of the best Netflix movies ever made.
Having dropped last week, the movie quickly found its way into the Netflix top 10, peaking at No. 2 on Saturday (Sept. 21), but it’s already starting to fall down the pecking order, with new additions to the Netflix library “The Garfield Movie” and “Evil Dead Rise” overtaking it, and even older originals “Rebel Ridge” and “Uglies," pushing it down to No. 5. It’s odds of claiming the coveted No. 1 position, or even becoming a movie that floats around the top 10 for several weeks, appears fairly remote now.
On the surface, “His Three Daughters” being ranked as the fifth most popular movie on the platform five days after release might seem respectable, but it could send a dangerous message to the streaming service bigwigs, and lead to more straight-to-streaming slop. Here's why its lack of the No. 1 trophy feels like a big deal to me.
‘His Three Daughters’ is among Netflix’s best of 2024
Before I dive into my concerns that “His Three Daughters” failing to reach No. 1 might teach Netflix the wrong lessons, please allow me to (briefly) gush about this phenomenal drama. As the name suggests, it follows three estranged sisters as they reunite in their father’s New York City apartment to care for him in his final days following a battle with terminal cancer.
Almost entirely set within this single location — with only a few excursions outside to a courtyard bench so one of the characters can smoke — “His Three Daughters” has a real theatrical quality. It feels like an adaptation of a stage play. Some viewers might find this quaint scope limiting, but writer/director Azazel Jacobs uses the confines of the apartment setting to great effect, making sibling squabbles feel claustrophobic, and letting the three central performances carry the movie. Plus, by the end, the apartment feels almost like a home of your own.
With so much resting on the trio of daughters, it’s a job thing the cast comprises three of the most talented actresses currently working in Hollywood. Each sister is very different, but Coon, Lyonne and Olsen are all fantastic. Coon’s Katie is highly-strung and quick to anger, Olsen’s Rachel is neurotic and desperate to keep the delicate peace, while Lyonne’s Rachel is the supposed “screw-up” of the bunch, still living at home, but underneath it all, she’s the true beating heart of the family.
Across the movie’s 101-minute runtime, we see just a snapshot of their lives, catching them each in one of the most stressful situations any human can endure (the death of a parent), but viewers are given a rich insight into their personalities, we see their family dynamic evolve, past resentments bubble up and are dealt with (or left to fester further), all these elements add to the movie’s raw and relatable portrayal of what it means to be part of a family. Oh, and you’ll cry— a whole lot.
Failure to make the grade could have consequences
My concerns that “His Three Daughters”’s failure to rocket straight to the No. 1 spot, and make significant waves on the popular streaming service, primarily stem from the fact that Netflix’s movie division underwent a significant restructuring earlier this year with key and long-serving executive, Lisa Nishimura and Ian Bricke, leaving the media company entirely.
In a subsequent report from TheWrap, an industry distribution executive (speaking anonymously) said of the change, “There are concerns being whispered around the industry that this move from Netflix could be signaling an end to the high-quality content we’ve seen them get behind in recent years, and — potentially — a return to the more formulaic ‘sure thing’ kind of content that is lower cost but more certain financially.”
In recent years Netflix hasn’t been shy about courting acclaimed directors and giving them sizeable budgets to create passionate projects for the streaming platforms. The legendary directors that have teamed up with Netflix in the past several years include Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”), David Fincher (“Mank”, “The Killer”), Noah Baumbach (“The Meyerowitz Stories”, “Marriage Story”, “White Noise”), Spike Lee (“Da 5 Bloods”), Alfonso Cuarón (“Roma”) and plenty more.
These prestige movies often don’t make the same impact as Netflix’s most conventional, dare I say “mass market” flicks, and with the changes to the streamer’s movie division, I’m concerned that awards-ready movies like “His Three Daughters” may be among the last of a dying breed. The movie being met with a relatively muted interest from subscribers compared to other Netflix Originals released over the past few movies certainly isn’t going to help either.
A quick comparison paints a somewhat bleak picture, “His Three Daughters” managed 4.1 million global views in its first three days (per Netflix), meanwhile, the schlocky sci-fi YA adaption “Uglies”, which earned a pitiful 16% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes (and only 45% from viewers), scored 20.8m views in its first weekend on Netflix. Which type of movie do you think Netflix execs are going to focus on next?
Netflix has served up subscribers a summer of slop
It should be noted that Netflix has been on a cold streak this summer. In fact, the original offering for subscribers has rarely been of such a low quality. Since June, the likes of “Uglies," “The Deliverance," “The Union," “Incoming," “Find Me Falling," “A Family Affair” and “Trigger Warning” have all held the Netflix No. 1 spot, and frankly, none of them deserve your movie-watching time. The average Rotten Tomatoes score of those seven movies is just 29%. Ouch!
So, to see “His Three Daughters (which holds a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes for reference) fail to match the viewership figures of some truly woeful streaming originals is pretty hard to stomach. As an obsessive cinephile, I want to see good movies rewarded, and Netflix encouraged to give talented filmmakers larger budgets to create interesting and unique features, the above stats won’t lead to that.
It would be remiss of me not to mention “Rebel Ridge” in all this. Released earlier this month, it was the rare Netflix movie that wowed professional critics (96% on Rotten Tomatoes), impressed passionate movie fans like myself and captured the interest of the general audience too. It held the global Netflix No. 1 spot for multiple weeks and still ranks highly within the top 10 right now. At the very least, I hope its success sends the right message to Netflix. Quality matters, and will be rewarded longterm.
There’s still time for ‘His Three Daughters’ to shine
Part of my motivation in writing this article was in the hopes that it might encourage a few Netflix subscribers who skipped out on “His Three Daughters” over the weekend to circle back and give the movie a shot. I promise you it’s worth making the time to stream it.
Without a crystal ball, I can’t foresee the future of Netflix Original movies, perhaps we’ll continue to get a mix of mainstream and prestige movies, or maybe “Rebel Ridge” will set the standard, and the streamer will aim for more movies that can appeal to all. But I very much hope that features like “His Three Daughters” continue to drop onto the service.
In the meantime, once you’ve streamed “His Three Daughters” for yourself, why not check out our list of all the best new to Netflix movies this month, and you can also read up on why the streamer’s current No. 1 show is generating a whole lots of controversy.
