Jim Jarmusch’s latest triptych portrait of family relations—Father Mother Sister Brother—is a comedy-drama anthology which follows three groups of siblings and their estranged parents. Full of uncomfortable silences and hesitant reunions, it definitely takes patience to watch. I was really excited to see this film, as I missed it on the film festival circuit last year and I was unable to catch it anywhere thereafter. The film garnered mixed reviews, as critics raved about the film being a beautiful meditation on familial bonds, whereas general audiences found the film to be insufferable or boring. I personally leaned towards the latter opinion.

The first chapter is “Father”, where Tom Waits plays a mysterious character only known as the titular “Father”, whom his children Jeff (Adam Driver) and Emily (Mayim Bialik) seem to know nothing about. He lives in rural New Jersey in a small, unkempt house, and his children are concerned he’s lonely living so far from town. The second chapter “Mother” is set in Dublin, where a woman also known only as “Mother” (Charlotte Rampling) lives as a writer. Her two daughters, Timothea (Cate Blanchett) and Lilith (Vicky Krieps), visit her only once a year for tea. The third and final chapter of this film, “Sister Brother”, follows a pair of fraternal twins, Skye (Indya Moore) and Billy (Luke Sabbat), in Paris, taking one last look at their parents’ apartment—their childhood home. 

The film does not explore who each of their respective parents are in further depth but alludes to the fact that their children know nothing about them except from their memories as kids—which becomes the core tension of the piece. 

Who are our parents? The film invites viewers to reflect on awkward reunions, familial tension and the question that can somehow never be answered of who our parents truly are. In “Father”, we discover that the father’s messy, senile facade was a charade, as he emerges from his house at the end of his story clad in an expensive velvet suit and climbs into a nice car (much nicer than his beaten up pickup truck) to meet someone in town. In “Mother,” the mother refuses to talk about her books with her daughters, making the audience wonder if there are some things in her books she is hiding from them. In “Sister Brother,” the twins look at old pictures of their parents and ponder their mysterious deaths as they crashed flying a small plane in the Azores. 

The film is sewn together by recurring themes in each chapter—water, red clothing, cars and a Rolex. All possess significance to each family and their bonds. There is always a conversation about water throughout the different chapters of the film. It is a vital source to survive, much like how each family clings to one another like a lifeline and is something each person cannot give up. Similarly, all the characters in the film wear red pieces of clothing, linking them all together like the water. It seems as if it is a nod to fate and family bloodlines. You can choose your friends and lovers, but you can’t choose your family. 

Visually, at the start of every chapter there is a car POV shot that sets the scene for audiences to observe each character’s facial expressions and emotions that come into play when intimate conversations unfold. In contrast to these heavier themes, there was the mention of a Rolex in each story, adding a touch of comedy, but it was most apt in the very first chapter when Father very slowly hides his Rolex with his sleeve after his daughter points it out. These recurring elements create cohesion with the chapters and emphasize how each relationship is experienced and sustained. 

I do love the deception aspect of this film the most, as it exposes that lots of family relationships are shaped by lies. Most of the time, parents refuse to hurt their children by telling them the truth, so white lies snowball into bigger secrets that become buried in time. We see this throughout Father Mother Sister Brother, as what connects each story is the web of lies that no one wants to address. It is simply in everyone’s nature to try and swallow down pride or the truth for fear of striking up conflicts. Pushing it aside and being non-confrontational seems like the best way to maintain a peaceful relationship and avoid wreaking havoc in the bloodline, as we can never truly run away from our families.

In addition to this observation that parents lie to their children to keep them safe, the film also explores how children lie to their parents to make them happy. The children in this film lie about how they’re doing, only saying things their parents want to hear. Once again, the goal is to avoid conflict and brutal questioning of their life choices.

It is also worth noting that Father Mother Sister Brother is creatively directed by Anthony Vaccarello of Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) and produced by Saint Laurent Productions. I’m a huge fan of what Anthony Vaccarello has brought to YSL as a brand, and he has been expanding his creative direction into the film world too. This film aligns with the vision of art house films the company has been producing, including working with other directors well known in the art house scene like David Cronenberg, Gaspar Noé, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar and Wong Kar Wai. Where Father Mother Sister Brother never fails is the beautiful cinematography and colour schemes. The fashion pieces were very personalized to the characters as were the aesthetics of the backdrops.

Although there were points I liked, there was not much for the film to cling onto except for the fact that we do want to see how everything ends. I feel like I was still watching for the sake of it. The characters didn’t really ground me to the film as each character’s personality didn’t shine through much, and I found it dull that most interactions were awkward and tense. But because of this the film felt very realistic—a vivid interpretation of typical family bonds. Most audiences might be able to relate to reunions like these and how we become more distant from our families as adults with our own lives. Ultimately, what the film did well was depict the quiet nuances and subtle emotions of strained reunions. It fell short in terms of actual plot, as many things were implied and not delved deeper into. I would have loved to see what secrets each parent(s) were keeping from their children for a more well-rounded and conclusive film.