Prisoner’s Daughter – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

PRISONER’S DAUGHTER – Review by Liz Braun

June 19, 2023June 19, 2023 Liz Braun Brian Cox, catherine hardwicke, Christopher Convery, Ernie Hudson, kate beckinsale, Prisoner's Daughter, Tyson Ritter

Catherine Hardwicke directs Brian Cox and Kate Beckinsale in Prisoner’s Daughter, a drama about family and second chances. The two leads alone should make you prick up your ears, but the movie, alas, is sunk by an overwrought screenplay. The story moves toward a burst of violence that upends everything that went before it, and that’s enough said about that. May we suggest that with a couple of exceptions — Mike Leigh, Todd Haynes, Ned Benson, maybe —men should not write domestic drama. Much has already been said about the lack of directing roles (and opportunity in general) for women in Hollywood. It seems a double shame that filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke and this excellent cast were all squandered on weak material.

Festivals Reviews

PRISONER’S DAUGHTER (TIFF 2022) – Review by Ulkar Alakbarova

September 13, 2022September 17, 2022 Ulkar Alakbarova Brian Cox, catherine hardwicke, kate beckinsale, Prisoner's Daughter, TIFF 2022, toronto international film festival

When you read the synopsis about a man who is being released from prison on grounds of compassion, you think it’s going to be another action film in which an elderly man must fight his past enemies. It is the first thing that comes to a mind once you hear about Prisoner’s Daughter. However, the moment the film starts, it takes a different turn, a surprising one. With screenplay by Mark Bacci and directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Prisoner’s Daughter is a feel good story.