Review of Your Sister's Sister (2011) by Blake P — 15 Sep 2014

"Your Sister's Sister" is a movie of browns and greens, molds and warts, inhibitions and expositions. Throughout its 90-minutes, no secret is left overlooked, no relationship is undeciphered. There are only three characters, and what we're left with is a thoroughly intimate drama whose heavily improvised nature makes every scene feel like it's actually happening, unfolding right in front of our very eyes.

The characters in "Your Sister's Sister" are all dealing with personal demons at the moment: it opens with a party, a party dedicated to the memory of Tom, a man we never meet that died a year ago. By the descriptions that are tossed around the room, we come to the conclusion that Tom was the man little girls dream to marry one day, the best friend we all hope to have.

His brother, Jack (Mark Duplass), throws in his two cents - instead of playing along with the put-upon optimism, he makes Tom seem like a manipulative S.O.B., a former bully who played nice to get ahead. But we can tell it isn't so. Clearly, Jack is so emotionally distraught that he would do anything to make himself feel better. Alcohol isn't working, as it seems.

Everyone around him shakes their head in disgust, except one person: Iris (Emily Blunt), who, at first, seems like a love interest but turns out to be Jack's BFF and Tom's former girlfriend. She decides that everything would take a turn for the better if Jack spent some time at her father's lake house for reflection and quiet. He agrees to go, but when he arrives, he is not greeted by retrospection but Iris' sister, Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt).

Hannah is more of a Lindsay Lohan than a Joyce Brothers, though. Matching Jack's sorrow, she has just broken up with her longtime girlfriend, and feels completely lost in the world. Spilling their feelings over tequila shots in the early hours of the morning, Jack and Hannah's mutual pain turns into a one-night stand.

But when Iris arrives out of the blue, things take a detour in the wrong direction. What was supposed to be a night of spontaneity turns into days of kept secrets that makes for some very interesting conversations.

It isn't necessarily the story that makes "Your Sister's Sister" so unforgettable - maybe it's Lynn Shelton's fearless direction or the believable chemistry between the costars. Many directors choose improvisation to create those once-in-a-lifetime moments that make a movie feel like it's happening right in front of the viewer, but depending on how determined the director is and how talented the cast is, it can either be an enemy or an ally.

With "Your Sister's Sister", it's an ally. The actors are all very appealing, and you can picture Shelton directing her actors, pushing them to places they didn't think of before. The tone is loose and unpredictable; there are moments of humor and tense drama because, in life, there are moments of humor and tense drama. Who knew that artificial reality could be such a rich experience? The conclusion is unsatisfying, yet, much of life is, and it's fitting.