‘Daughters’ explores families under lock and key
Most of us are guilty of not giving children credit when it comes to understanding the messiness of adulthood. For proof, check out the Sundance-award-winning “Daughters.” In it, directors Angela Patton and Natalie Rae train their cameras on four girls, ages 5 to 15, as they and their fathers prepare for a daddy-daughter dance that’s not all sugar and spice. It’s closer to pain and resentment.
That’s because the patriarchs are all serving time in a medium-security prison outside Washington, D.C., cut off from their kids by a heartless correctional system that limits their contact to 15-minute Zoom calls. Oh, and for that measly privilege, the perp must first fork over as much as $8. Welcome to life behind bars in 2024, when recidivism seems to be of little concern. For if rehabilitation were truly the goal, it would seem encouraging physical contact with your child would be an integral part.
At least that’s how Patton sees it. In addition to co-directing “Daughters,” she also founded the Date With Dad program, which has proven more than 90 percent effective in preventing repeat offenses. This is how it works: Patton travels to D.C.-area prisons seeking volunteers for a 10-week seminar on responsible parenting that culminates with the cons treating their daughters to a night on the town in the prison gymnasium. This includes dinner, dancing and some of the best tear-inducing moments you’ll see all year.
Great so far, right? So why did this well-meaning documentary ultimately leave me feeling jaded and disappointed? It’s not like I didn’t give it a chance, watching some portions three times over. And each time the movie failed to fully penetrate. I blame much of that on its contrived verite style. I don’t doubt the emotions are genuine, but the uncanniness of the camera always being at the right place at the right time made me dubious. It’s a little too neat and convenient.
I also believe Patton has too much skin in the game, given she’s co-directing a film about a program she founded. How can she possibly be impartial? As a result, all those sweet and tender moments are undermined by an inescapable sense of being sold. It feels inauthentic. Even worse, it blunts the emotional impact.
What niggled at me most was Patton and Rae’s choice not to reveal the father’s crimes. What temptations impelled each of them to risk that relationship with their child? If it were armed robbery or drug dealing, I’m apt to be less sympathetic than if Pops were busted for stealing food to feed his family.
Yet, I appreciate how deeply these men regret their deeds, whatever they might have been. Clearly, it gnaws at their souls. But you have to wonder, why not consider the risk before breaking the law? What’s the adage? “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time?”
As one mom, Unita, challenges her daughter Ja’Ana’s dad, “Why do you want to bond with her while you’re incarcerated, when all this time you had out here and really never wanted to be bothered with her?”
I wondered the same, especially given how smart and mature Ja’Ana is for an 11-year-old, an age when these girls rightly start to question their fathers’ commitment to them. Her compatriot, 10-year-old Santana, vows never to shed another tear should her dad mess up again. That’s the sentiment of a little girl who has been hurt far too many times. Worse, she frets over whether an inclination for abandonment might be hereditary. “I don’t ever want to have kids,” she says emphatically. “At least not until I’m 35.”
Her disillusionment is countered by the wide-eyed innocence of 5-year-old Aubrey, so adorable she flat out steals the movie. When it comes time to finally meet up with her pops, she can barely wait to impress him with her mastery of multiplication tables. Again, you ask yourself how any man could choose crime over someone so precious?
Lastly, there’s 15-year-old Raziah, who her mother claims is borderline suicidal. Does her father have any idea what his poor choices have cost her? She’s easily the most traumatized of the four girls, and you worry most about her fragile psyche as the girls arrive at the prison.
It’s heartwarming at first, as the dads, outfitted in brand-new suits and ties, line a hallway, nervously awaiting the arrival of their fancily dressed little girls. The ensuing displays of affection are certainly moving, particularly when it’s time for the girls to leave.
The experience reduces these “tough guys” to blubbering softies, as it suddenly dawns on them it will likely be years before they see and touch their kids again. Talk about a cruel, screwed-up prison system crying out for reform.
As powerful as all that is, it’s consistently tempered by the directors’ insistence on gilding the lily with dozens of obviously engineered scenes. It’s frustrating because the narrative doesn’t need embellishing. Nor does it require pretentious shots of blowing leaves and girls and dads sitting alone staring pensively out rain-splattered windows.
It borders on propaganda. And why no commentary from prison officials on what they think of the dance program? I found that omission notable. But despite the misgivings, I can’t say the movie didn’t affect me. And every ounce of that empathy was directed toward the girls and their mothers. As for the fathers – and other dads doing time – all I can say is, stop dancing around the truth and get with the program.
Movie review
Daughters
Rated: PG-13 for language, some thematic elements
Directors: Angela Patton and Natalie Rae
Runtime: 102 minutes
Where: In theaters on Aug. 9 and premiering on Netflix on Aug. 14
Grade: B-
