Father Mother Sister Brother

 

          The latest film from writer/director Jim Jarmusch uses his favorite film structure of multiple story lines to tell three tales of family dynamics.

           "Father" tells the story of an adult brother and sister paying a visit to their widowed father. It stars Adam Driver and Mayim Bialik as the siblings and Tom Waits as their father. "Mother" also tells a story of siblings (in this case sisters) paying an annual visit of afternoon tea with their mother. It stars Cate Blanchett and Vicky Krieps as the sisters and Charlotte Rampling as their mother. "Sister Brother" is a story of adult twins who reunite to visit their former home after their parents have been killed in a plane crash. It stars Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat. Every actor is excellent.

            The entire film is a gentle look at each family's dynamic with hints of dysfunction, humor, grace, love, and in one case, surprise. The stories are not connected but do contain subtle threads of overlap in pieces of dialog and visuals.

             Fans of Mr. Jarmusch will appreciate the unhurried, "slice of life" storytelling.