Anthology movies are always a tricky thing to do, because at best case scenario one needs to pull off a hat trick, at worst case they need a run away to accomplish creating a film that genuinely resonates with audiences and creates a film that genuinely speaks to audiences and will continue to redefine the story it is trying to tell. Jim Jarmusch who continues to refuse to be pigeon holed for what kind of movies he wants to tell, and direct, and Father Mother Brother Sister is no different, as it is relatively different than anything he’s directed this century, but lo and behold he fails where most people do in anthologies – hits a segment out of the park, one fizzles, and one is good but not great. With a powerhouse cast, the performances aren’t the weak point but a tie to connect the three interweaving stories together is missing and thusly everything occurring just feels like shorts thrown together because of a familial connection (though not related).
The first segment focuses on Jeff and Emily (Adam Driver and Mayim Bialik) as they’re trying to reconnect with their Father (Tom Waits). We are unsure as to exactly what happened, but something happened after their mothers funeral and created a divide between the children and their father. It’s unsettling and uncomfortable, and that is where the actors ability strives high, as their performances do much more than the script intrigues them for. The middle segment focuses on sisters, Timothea (Cate Blanchett) and Lilith (Vicky Kreips) as they go visit their mother (Charlotte Rampling), Timothea is the successful sister, while Lilith pretends to be as they both work together to ensure their mothers mysterious position about them both stays that way, but they’re bonded to not let her drag them down. Lastly, it focuses on twins Skye and Billy (Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat) as they grieve their parents death (much earlier in life) as its is obvious that they never truly knew the people who gave them life. It is a lot going on, a lot of the trauma and needfulness is left unsaid, but there is something just left to be desired from this unspoken dramatic tale.
Overall, while looking at Jarmusch’s career he can be successful in both long over drawn dialogue and nothing left being unsaid (Only Lovers Left Alive says a lot, and not a lot of interpretation) while a movie like Paterson has a lot of dialogue-less moments which are only exemplified by the performance from Adam Driver. So Father Mother Sister Brother isn’t from a lack of creative prowess, it is rather from a lack of direction that the movie suffers. No one involved performance wise faulters, but the stories faulter at the beginning, and become less interesting with the middle segment despite the intrigue growing and being more engaging. Overall, with a slow meticulous start, and not a whole lot being said throughout the feature and the execution, Father Mother Sister Brother lacks direction to create a final product for the audience to find themselves lost in.
