(Un)lucky Sisters 2024 Movie Review
Family comedy dramas are on a slippery slope. There is a lot that goes into turning a good family comedy drama into a hilarious one. There are a handful of ones that have been successful. Modern Family as a sitcom works like charm, while Fuller House as the spin-off of Full House did not work at all. Unlucky Sisters, the brand-new Argentinian Netflix original directed by Fabiana Tiscornia, is a story of two estranged sisters who unexpectedly meet and try to form a bond.
Unlucky Sisters is hardly ninety minutes long, and, in this time, the frame tells the story of Angela and Jessica, two sisters who weren’t aware of each other’s existence until their father unexpectedly died, and they were called in as his last of kin. Angela is a kindergarten teacher who lives with her boyfriend but is barely able to survive on the salary she receives from the school. Jessica too is working for a fast-food chain but is overwhelmed by her living situation with her family. Both have different reactions to learning about the death of their father, who was the talk of the town after his name came up in a bribery scandal. While Angela has memories of her father and is emotional about his passing, Jessica had no connection to the man and just hoped to get some money in the form of inheritance. They run into some of his associates during his funeral and learn of an apartment he owned in the poshest neighborhood. To their shock, the apartment has been passed down to the two daughters, and while exploring, they come across something they never thought they would find in the flat. Where did the thing come from? What are the sisters planning to do with the thing they discovered? Was their father a bad person, a notion Angela refused to believe?
The best thing about this family drama is the dynamics between the two sisters, who come from a background where they lack financial stability, but the notion about their father is very different. Jessica is in dire need of money and does not hide the fact that she is hoping to get some inheritance. While her sister Angela is also struggling, her emotional attachment surpasses her need to be financially independent and get away from her boyfriend. The sibling relationship has been explored very well, and despite having two different personalities, they eventually find common ground and a way to help each other. There is a beautiful bond between them, as in a few days’ time they connect over the need for money and look into the pragmatic stuff. It is their need for money and them getting each other in touch with something that is unfamiliar to them that makes the film endearing. Rest of the film is an example of lazy writing, as a lot of subplots are opened but the closure is inconclusive. For example, the mystery of the thing found at their father’s apartment is not solved. It is left to the imagination of the audience to figure out what it could be. There is speculation, but there needs to be a clear answer, and the audience are left frustrated as there is no conclusion.
Many characters are introduced, but they are barely given an arc that shows how they are related to Angela and Jessica’s father. They are introduced as villains, but the non-establishment of conflict, which is how you’d usually introduce an antagonist, makes the story bland. The title of the movie is Unlucky Sisters but at no point do they come across ‘unlucky.’ The short run time of the film does not make the screenplay crisp or tight. The story and the premise are interesting, but the lack of emotionality hampers the viewing experience.
For the makers who claim the movie is a family comedy drama, there is no humor in the story. There are hardly any laugh-out-loud moments in the movie that would make this film have a good repeat value. There are many emotional bonds forged, but the lack of humor is frustrating, as the premise and the genre of the film promised some laughs. There is hardly any explanation about the bribery scandal that rocked the life of the father of the girls. Any explanation of what happened and if their father was actually guilty would offer a perspective on if he was a good or a bad person. This subplot was left hanging as the makers quickly wanted to highlight how the girls have changed over the period since their father’s demise.
The direction is not up to par, and it is severely affected by the shaky screenplay. The girls have a role to play, which is to find out if their father was indeed a criminal. Since this is hardly discussed, the movie mostly spends time bringing Angela and Jessica together. Director Fabiana Tiscornia did not offer much, which is sad as the story did have potential to become something interesting. The performances of the lead actors Leticia Siciliani as Angela and Sofía Morandi as Jessica are good in the movie, but their characters were not explored in depth individually. Their past with their father is mentioned in passing, which is sad as the story of the father-daughter relationship could have given the narrative some strength and emotion it lacked throughout.
