Your Sister's Sister

"Weak"

Your Sister's Sister Review


As with Humpday, writer-director Shelton plays around with transgressive sexuality in this lively, watchable comedy-drama. The problem is that instead of dissipating, the underlying sense of homophobia is aggressively offensive this time.

A year after his brother's death, Jack (Duplass) has become best friends with his brother's ex Iris (Blunt), who suggests that he take some time out in her father's island cabin outside Seattle. When he arrives, Iris' sister Hannah (DeWitt) is there, nursing her pain from the breakup of a long-term relationship. After a few drinks they end up in bed, which is a problem for two reasons: Hannah is a lesbian who wants a baby, and Iris arrives the next day to tell her sister that she's in love with Jack.

After the opening scene, the film locks onto these three characters, whose relationships shift drastically over the next few days as the truth comes out.

Each person has to deal with the revelation of a secret they wanted to keep, each badly hurts the one they love, and each must work out their feelings on their own before they know what to do next. All of this is played beautifully by the three central actors, who never hit a false note even when the script leaves them high and dry.

And this is the problem: the script isn't as thoughtful or honest as it pretends to be. As a director, Shelton is great at coaxing relaxed, authentic performances that feel largely improvised. So we believe the spicy interaction.

But the more scripted elements ring glaringly false, overlaying the film with a sense of prudish moralising that undermines the more progressive themes these people are supposedly struggling with.

The fact that it seems perfectly natural for Hannah to leap into bed with her sister's best friend is an insult to anyone who has honestly grappled with sexuality (to say nothing of ethics). The way these apparently bright young people over-react to the mere idea of sex is almost laughable. And story's resolution is annoyingly simplistic. At least Humpday dealt with the issue of male intimacy even as it sidelined the more important themes at hand. This one leaves us with nothing to think about at all.



Your Sister's Sister

Facts and Figures

Run time: 90 mins

In Theaters: Friday 29th June 2012

Box Office USA: $1.6M

Budget: $125 thousand

Distributed by: IFC Films

Production compaines: Ada Films

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 2 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Fresh: 111 Rotten: 23

IMDB: 6.7 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Producer: Steven Schardt

Starring: as Jack, as Iris, as Hannah, as Al, as Waitress

Also starring: ,

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews