[Film Review] Daughter (2022)

After having its world premiere at FrightFest 2022, taut thriller Daughter has now been released to rent or own digitally for the UK and Ireland. Centering around a young woman who has been kidnapped by a strange cult like family, who insists on calling her “daughter” or “sister”, she must either learn to assimilate or face the same fate as her predecessors. 

From its 1970s aesthetic opening paired with haunting string music and images of gas-masked individuals chasing a woman, Daughter places itself firmly in a tense and uncanny position. A man who calls himself Father (Casper Van Dien) holds a young woman (Vivien Ngô) hostage, chained up in his garage, telling her that she is his new Daughter and he wishes her to be a good sibling for her impressionable and naive Brother (Ian Alexander), otherwise there will be consequences. Reflecting the brainwashing initiation tactics of cult leaders, Father continues to reduce his captive’s personhood by only calling her Daughter and dressing her in plain beige clothing like the rest of his family. After being allowed to assimilate into the family household, Daughter sets about slowly and insidiously disrupting Father’s way of life, and soon uncovers the lies he has used to coerce and impound his young son and wife (Elyse Dinh).

Whilst vaguely reminiscent of films like 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) and It Comes At Night (2017), Daughter doesn’t quite hit the nail on the head with the same ambiguity surrounding the state of the outside world that its characters are hidden away from, instead focusing more on the incessant monotonal monologues of Father, who seems to be more desperate to convince himself of his Us versus Them ideologies than convincing Daughter and Son. Casper Van Dien is ideal in this role as a quietly foreboding presence, surrounded by an anxious and tense atmosphere that could explode at any given moment. The relationship between Daughter and Son is the most important connection in the film, as this is what provides the downfall of the authoritarian hierarchy of this cult-like family. Ian Alexander plays Son incredibly sweet and vulnerable, desperate to do anything to please Father and it is this vulnerability that Daughter utilises to influence a change in Son’s perspective, and thus setting off a chain reaction resulting in Father’s demise. 

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The lack of a well-rounded explanation to the behaviour and actions of Father, is ultimately the downfall of Daughter. Without any sort of backstory as to why Father harbours such an intense avoidance of the outside or its people, why he covets his son's blood by the bag and what it is that he is truly afraid of, it unfortunately makes for quite an ephemeral narration. Despite this, the cinematography of Daughter is to be commended. Shot on 16mm, creating an endearing aesthetic for fans of classic horror and exploitation. The analogous colour scheme used throughout the picture of browns, beiges and neutrals reflect Father’s need for harmony and uniformity amongst those in his household. Daughter is at times; a disturbing portrayal of a family trapped physically and psychologically by a terrifying and manipulative patriarch and demonstrates the effects on the individual of being stripped away of their personhood.

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