Sundance Journal: ‘Your Sister’s Sister’

‘Your Sister’s Sister’ was a movie I looked forward to seeing simply because I love the cast. Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt – what a great group of actors, right?

Well, they’re the ones holding this movie together. On the outside, the film features many of the same types of situations you’d see in a lot of other romantic comedies. However, how the characters deal with those situations here is the real treat. After seeing it, I believe that there’s no point in revealing too much of the plot. A good majority of this movie’s dialogue is improvised, so it’s up to the actors to make the whole thing work. The director and camera people are simply there hoping to catch that magic moment where the actors make the scene work.

There’s not much to know about this movie other than it’s a great little character drama that features realistic characters, in believable situations, handling them like adults instead of like characters weighed down by a certain formula.

I really enjoyed this film because it has an unexpected streak of optimism underlying the entire thing. It’s a very refreshing take. Here are three characters all undergoing life-altering decisions and events, and they handle them very realistically and down-to-earth. There’s something to be said about the naturalistic approach when it comes to filmmaking. Not everything has to be overblown. There’s strength in subtlety, and ‘Your Sister’s Sister’ has that.

There’s no doubt in my mind that this will get picked up and distributed at some point. It probably won’t receive a wide release, but make sure to keep an eye out for it. This is one you’ll want to see if you get a chance.

Rating: ★★★★☆

[Note: These Sundance posts are meant to be capsule reviews – knee-jerk reactions to the movies I’ve seen at the festival. They’re intended to be conversational in nature. This is the stuff I’d tell someone in a casual discussion about the film.]

5 comments

  1. JM

    I hate it when little festival films never get released. I’m still waiting for ‘Perfect Sense.’

    I was anticipating ‘You Sister’s Sister’ before, because of Emily Blunt, and now I am twice as much. Hollywood better do right by this.

    I’ve been hoping this will have as much improvisational magic as ‘Before Sunset.’

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