Jim Jarmusch is back, and if you have spent any time with his filmography over the last forty years, you pretty much know what you are getting into before you even pop the disc into the tray. Father Mother Sister Brother isn’t here to reinvent the wheel, nor is it trying to blow your mind with massive narrative twists. It is three short stories about family, distance, and the weird, awkward silence that sits in the room when adult children have to talk to their aging parents. If you like watching talented actors linger in doorways, sip coffee, and navigate minor misunderstandings, this is going to be right up your alley. If you need a movie to have a traditional three-act structure with high-stakes resolution, this will probably drive you nuts.
The film is split into three distinct chapters set in different parts of the globe, each focusing on a different set of adult siblings trying to relate to a parent. First up is "Father," set in the northeastern US, featuring Adam Driver and Mayim Bialik as siblings visiting their distant, somewhat eccentric father, played by Tom Waits. Next is "Mother," which shifts the setting to Dublin, following Cate Blanchett and Vicky Krieps as two sisters trying to get through a tense, passive-aggressive afternoon with their mother, played by Charlotte Rampling. The final segment, "Sister Brother," takes place in Paris, tracking Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat as two siblings dealing with the fallout of their parents' long-past choices.
What works best about the movie is how unglamorous it is about family dynamics. Jarmusch has always been a director who cares more about the spaces between conversations than the actual dialogue, and that approach fits the subject matter here. Family relationships in this movie aren't defined by screaming matches or massive cinematic confessions. They are defined by the fact that you haven't talked to your brother in eight months, you both love your dad, but neither of you knows what to say to him after the first ten minutes.
The first chapter with Driver, Bialik, and Waits is easily the highlight of the disc. Driver plays his usual brand of low-key, slightly neurotic quietness, which pairs surprisingly well with Bialik’s more grounded, practical energy. But it’s Tom Waits who steals the segment just by existing. He plays the father not as some tragic, aging figure, but as an old guy who has built a very specific, isolated routine and doesn't particularly want his kids messing with it. Watching Driver and Bialik sit on a porch while Waits rambles about local wildlife and forgotten property lines feels so real it almost hurts. It captures that exact feeling of going home as an adult and realizing your parents have become complete strangers who happen to share your bloodline.
The Dublin segment, "Mother," is a bit heavier and a lot more tense. Blanchett and Krieps have good chemistry as sisters who clearly love each other but have totally different ways of coping with their mother's quiet judgment. Charlotte Rampling does a fantastic job playing a woman who can destroy your self-esteem just by asking if you're going to finish your tea. The humor here is much drier, almost uncomfortable at times, as the three women navigate a conversation where every sentence feels like a minor landmine. It goes on a little too long, and it lacks the weird charm of the Tom Waits chapter, but it captures the specific friction between mothers and grown daughters better than most dramas double its length.
The final story in Paris, "Sister Brother," is the weakest of the trio, though it still has its moments. Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat bring a cooler, more modern vibe to the film, but the narrative setup feels a bit thinner than the previous two. It relies more heavily on mood and atmosphere than character interaction, which makes it feel a bit like Jarmusch is running out of steam right as the runtime ticks toward the two-hour mark. Still, the Parisian backdrops look great, and the quiet rhythm of their interactions keeps it from falling completely flat.
From a presentation standpoint, Criterion or whatever boutique label picked this up has done a solid job with the 4K/Blu-ray release. The transfer is crisp, clean, and retains a very natural film grain that keeps the visuals from looking overly digital or sanitized. Jarmusch and his cinematographer Frederick Elmes shoot most of the film in medium shots and long takes, letting the natural lighting of the locations do the heavy lifting. The northeastern woods look cold and damp, the Dublin interiors feel claustrophobic and lived-in, and the Paris street scenes have a nice, soft warmth to them. Colors are natural without being overly saturated, and the black levels in the darker, low-light scenes are solid throughout.
The audio side of things is pretty minimal, but that is by design. This is a movie where people talk in quiet living rooms, drive cars down empty dirt roads, and listen to old vinyl records. The DTS-HD Master Audio track handles the dialogue cleanly, which is the most important part. You won't need to keep your thumb on the remote control to turn down loud explosions or sudden music swells. Speaking of the music, the score is classic Jarmusch territory, featuring a mix of sparse acoustic guitar, ambient drone tracks, and a few well-placed vintage records that blend smoothly into the surround channels without ever overpowering the scenes.
As for special features, the disc is a bit light, which is usually the case for Jarmusch releases unless he decides to sit down for an hour-long interview. You get a solid 20-minute making-of featurette that includes some fun behind-the-scenes footage of Tom Waits and Jim Jarmusch hanging out on set, which is honestly worth the price of entry on its own. There are also a few deleted scenes that were rightfully cut for pacing, a theatrical trailer, and a printed booklet featuring a short essay about the film's production history and Jarmusch's evolution as an independent filmmaker. It isn't a massive, multi-disc special edition, but it gets the job done for physical media collectors who want a clean copy on their shelf.
If you are looking to add this to your shelf, the film is officially available to own on Blu-ray on 8/25. It has to be said that the disc itself is completely barebones on the digital side, so do not go in expecting a director commentary, deleted scenes, or long-winded retrospective documentaries. But honestly, the physical package almost makes up for the total lack of bonus features. Like pretty much all Mubi physical releases, the packaging is plain gorgeous. You get a sleek, high-quality slipcase and a double-sided insert with incredible design work that gives the whole release a much more impressive, tactile feeling than a random assortment of five-minute behind-the-scenes featurettes ever could. It looks like a real collector's item sitting on a shelf.
Father Mother Sister Brother isn't going to rank at the absolute top of Jarmusch's filmography alongside things like Down by Law or Paterson. It feels a little repetitive by the time the third story rolls around, and if you aren't in the mood for a slow, observational movie where not a lot happens on paper, you are going to be checking your watch. But as a low-key examination of how weird, frustrating, and quietly funny family connections can be, it works really well. It respects the viewer's patience, looks great on a home setup, and gives a cast of great actors room to just sit in a room and act like real people. If you are already a fan of the director's style and appreciate a nice physical release for your shelf, this disc is a very easy recommendation for a quiet weekend watch.
Comments