Four Daughters

An emotionally powerful documentary. The idea of reenacting some scenes with actresses to play the two missing daughters soon breaks down, and the best parts of the film involves the mom and real daughters just talking to the actresses.

A harrowing Arabic-language documentary and drama, Four Daughters is about four daughters and a mother whose sees her two oldest daughters leave to Syria. I knew nothing and it is a little different as actresses fill the void of the missing talking heads. I'm not sure it totally worked for me. This is a scary tale with many tentacles. It doesn't always make for a great film, but it is most certainly an intriguing one. Probably the best therapy for the family torn apart by hard-line religious dogma. Final Score: 7/10

Fascinating story that you have unlikely seen before.

Uma história para mim muito surpreendente. Eu jamais imaginaria que esse tipo de coisa estivesse acontecendo. Adolescentes criadas com hábitos ocidentais rebelando-se e escolhendo uma vida ultraconservadora que as leva a crimes terríveis... Depois fui pesquisar e descobri que o aliciamento está ocorrendo no mundo inteiro. Esse documentário é um importante alerta para famílias de adolescentes.

Odd setup here with the mix of actors and the actual family, blending live interviews and reenactments. I'm not sure it works. It's a little meta, and on the plus side, in some ways it might actually help demonstrate some of the lived pain of the girls. There are some highly emotional scenes right from the get-go, and I definitely wasn't immune to sympathizing with what this family has gone through. But, was it just me or is this movie extraordinarily incriminating of the mom? She is pretty hard to like and seems easy to blame for contributing to her daughters' attraction to extremism, but regardless, it's not hard to connect with her pain and loss and regret. And maybe I'd connect even more with it all and have more understanding if I was a mother or a daughter. There definitely could be a big blind spot here for me in that regard. The mother-daughter dynamic happening in the midst of a lot of other poignant themes like abuse, religion, and conservatism. In the end, I thought there would be a bigger payoff, some bigger moments to finalize the story. And I think the material was there, but tone-wise it sort of builds to a plateau.

Really impressive, impactful documentary! Using actors for the two missing sisters and subbing in actors for additional scenes, the documentary allows Olfa and her daughters to explain their story through words and scenes. Worth watching! 4 stars

I only watched this movie because it was nominated for an Academy Award. The story was unbelievable, I saw a mother Olfa a bully as who someone wanted her two youngest daughters to actresses. The two older girls just wanted freedom from strict and abusive mother.

A most remarkable and moving film. The story of this family would be interesting enough, but the way the film has been structured is unlike anything I have seen before. Beautifully photographed, exquisitely acted and bravely re-lived. I was totally engrossed and it was a rare window into a world previously closed to me. That laughter, songs and joy can coexist with such trauma is a testament to the human spirit. Bravo to all involved in this production.

It is a moving portrait of a family in a world influenced by currents... The film has a form that is bold and online any other...

i thought it was boring and long and dreary- saw other Middle Eastern movies at the Palm Springs International Film Festival where it was also playing and found them all - Inshallah, a boy Bye bye Tiberias , Memories(?) all much more interesting