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Henry (Geoffrey Rush) is the master in a town where his logging company is the main attraction. His wife has passed away long ago and so he decides to remarry. This coincides with his decision to close the logging factory due to falling sales. The town is imploding but he wants to pull out all these stops for his wedding day.

His estranged son, Christian, has also returned from America and immediately reconnects with old friends and this includes Oliver and his wife and daughter. He has long born a grudge with his father and as old tensions resurface so do nagging questions from the past. It is the answer to those questions that are the setting for the calamity of the future and a delve into the darkness that the past can often hold.

This is a smouldering watch, all the performances are brilliant especially Odessa Young as Hedwig and Ewen Leslie as Oliver. We also have a fine performance from Rush and the ever reliable Sam Neil – both acting royalty in Australia. It keeps the tempo up almost from the start and is a credit to Screen Australia for investing in such a commendable piece of cinema.

Untangling the narrative thicket of The Daughter is not easy and the plot line is slow to unfold. It helps to take a step back and look at the story as a metaphorical collision between a single ray of truth and the lie that connects two families. It is only at this thematic level that we can understand why Henrik Ibsen's 1884 play The Wild Duck keeps reappearing on stage and screen. The Daughter is the latest re-imagining, with new characters and a modernised story that retains the glasshouse fragility of lives built upon secrets. It is timeless precisely because secrets are a part of life, yet some are so destructive that a few words can be a missile that shatters everything.

A gunshot is fired at the start and end of the film, and in between is a high-tension wire that is slowly pulled tighter and tighter until it snaps. When a timber mill closes in an unnamed Australian town disgruntled workers are laid off while the aloof and wealthy owner Henry plans to marry his much younger former housekeeper. His estranged son Oliver returns for the wedding looking for someone to blame for his mother's suicide. When Oliver learns of his father's previous infidelity he feels compelled to reveal all. Tensions explode when Oliver tells his best friend Christian, as the affair involved his wife and now affects the relationship with his daughter Hedvig. One revelation of a buried truth triggers a chain of events that nobody can control.

Although melodramatic and claustrophobic as family relationships can be, the story gathers pace in the second half, carried forward by outstanding acting from a stellar cast. It is beautifully photographed in Gothic style with haunting atmospherics amidst iconic landscapes reminiscent of The Piano (1993). Several overlapping scenes and restless camera viewpoints evoke the vulnerability of relationships teetering on lies. Often we are not sure who is the protagonist of the story as events unfold from various viewpoints but it is the daughter Hedvig who emerges as the innocent heroine tragically burdened by the sins of family. As she did in Looking for Grace (2015), Odessa Young plays the rebellious daughter and again her star shines brightly all over this film. Tense, challenging, and wonderfully crafted, this complex film mixes a psychological thriller with tragedy and its ending will leave you stunned.

In the grand old tradition of Australian films of the past 10 – 15 years, young theatre director/actor turned feature filmmaker Simon Stone's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's play that has here become The Daughter is a sombre, bleak and sometimes hugely impressive film that's moments of greatness are sadly washed away by a tendency of over-dramatics and underdeveloped characters that hamper the films intentions to be the next big Australian drama kingpin.

Stone who had the fortune of gathering some of Australia's best talent in the form of Geoffrey Rush, Sam Neill, Miranda Otto as well as American actor Paul Schneider in the key role as the thankless Christian certainly had the tools at his disposal to create something special (something that he did from all reports on stage with this same story) but while The Daughter is a polished local production thanks in no small part of Andrew Commis's noteworthy work as DOP and Mark Bradshaw's effective score as well as the to be expected work of the experience cast, you can't help but feel as though The Daughter doesn't ring true in its most important moments and some players within this family drama barely get a chance to breathe in the 90 minute run time.

Christian may be our central figure here and his an unlikeable and tormented soul but relative newcomer Odessa Young gets the films biggest weight put upon her shoulders as the young and vulnerable Hedvig. Young's performance is solid without being overly impressive but Hedvig as a fictional creation is somewhat unengaging and with an important part to play in the stories proceedings as Hedvig and her family have to deal with unearthed secrets, Young can't bring the stories wannabe emotional payoff home despite the best attempts of those around her with a particularly disappointing final few minutes feeling rather underwhelming.

With supports from the aforementioned Neill, Rush and Otto, The Daughter is never allowed to fall down to any detrimental levels and while the shipped in Schneider doesn't get great rewards from his Christian, Stone shows himself a director to watch out for with his handling of stars and the mostly unknown Ewen Leslie as the hard done by Oliver is another of The Daughter's participants that will likely benefit from a starring role in this well received production.

Devoid of much light and frivolity, The Daughter is as glum as Australian films get and while this Home and Away with a budget is sometimes too much to bare or care, there's enough impressive filmmaking going on here that Stone's film is a worthwhile watch for all those seeking out their next dose of Australian drama, like only we Australian's can make.

3 animal sanctuary's out of 5

On paper, 'The Daughter' has lots going for it: An adaptation of a successful theatre production which in itself is an adaptation of a classic Ibsen play; Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush; top notch local actors Miranda Otto, Ewen Leslie; and veteran Sam Neill. But i ultimately found this a disappointment; despite some strong ingredients. From the early scenes, there was a heavyness and at times overly self conscious style from both the director and the actors. I wondered how this was going to work.... Geoffrey Rush, one of Australia's finest actors was just too arch in this performance. The film may not have been made without his 'name', but the incredulity of the much younger women being so drawn to him was inescapable for me; that and a very stiff and unlikable character. Paul Schneider, so powerful in Jane Campion's 'Bright Star' was all at sea here. Inconsistent direction and a bizarre character arc made this wonderful American actor look out of place. Yes he was the outsider, but i didn't believe for a moment that he was Rush's son; nor a former best friend of Ewen Leslie's character.

The positives: The aforementioned Mr Leslie is building a great portfolio of stage and screen work, and despite those early 'ocker' moments, he developed his character and displayed much potency especially in the last act. Miranda Otto is always watchable but again credibility and some very pedestrian dialogue did not help this viewer much. As the title character, Odessa Young is a real find and definitely the saving grace for me with this film. An absolute natural; the youngest cast member was perhaps the only one to rise above the soap operatic material and direction to give a naturalistic performance. Her place in the industry seems assured after this and her other feature 'Looking For Grace'; proof that a star is born.

Maybe I just don't like soap dressed up as art or high drama; but this film didn't sit right with me. It felt like it had all been done before and done better! Shame, as there is lots of talent on screen, but an overdone, overly signposted tragedy, for me, needed to be done in a far more clever way - ala The Dressmaker.

The first half hour it is nearly impossible to figure out where the movie is headed... Which can be good or bad. I was afraid the whole movie was just going to be drift around with no point. (That is not the case)

Then, you 'get it' and understand what is happening. But WHY? It is so disturbing. There is less than 15 seconds of humor in the whole film.

It is extremely emotionally taxing.

Normally, when anything in any genre is well made I instantly enjoy it.

This was wonderfully produced, acted, and well written but the topic. Too much...

Why make such a dark movie?

A very surprising Aussie film. Not all the Australian film makes big at the world stage. So this film was not known to many people, but I am lucky to watch this. The film was based on the Norwegian play called 'The Wild Duck'. It was adapted several times for the screen, but this is the latest and a modernised version. The first film for the director and he was amazing in handling the screenplay as well.

Obviously I did not know anything about the film. The cast looked good and also the storyline, so that's my reason to watch it. It began like a simple drama about a family who are going through a difficult time after the wood mill was shut down in their small town. Their's daughter, Hedvig, who is studying in the high school worries that she's going to lose her boyfriend if they move out of the town. That's not it, the narration had layers like from other people surrounding this small family and their perspective too has a big impact on the storytelling.

Not just this family, but many from the town were out of the job and that leads to some unexpected decisions. Another family who ran that wood mill for nearly a century, welcomes their son, Christian from the United States who is having a tough time with his girlfriend and also to attend his father's wedding. He accidentally meets his childhood friend which is actually a Hedvig's father. They spend lots of time together and that's where a new issue arises. Christian reveals some hidden truth for the decades between their two families. Everything breaks loose and becomes impossible to fix it. From all this, the daughter is the one who directly get affected, but to learn how is why you should watch this film.

You won't immediately understand the meaning of the title. The film very smartly progresses like bit by bit with lots of suspense around. The best part is, it never reveals the actual secret at any length of the film, but still the viewers going understand the situation very clearly. That's really amazing, particularly the writing being so clever. I don't know the original material which is more than a hundred year old, but I loved this to tell the story in a smart way.

"You do not need to be scared of the truth."

The characters were the best part of the story. The switching time was excellently done. Like the whole film is not intended to deal with one particular issue, but multiple. Everybody had something to deal with, some were personal and some were concerned for their whole family. The story always engaged with details, so there's no time for relaxation for the viewers. In the first half it succeeds to keep everything neat, despite the story developed from different angles. Because the end pulls them all together to conclude the tale on high. High mean, neither happy or sad, the timing when the twist takes place was a perfect setting.

If you are a melodrama fan, this must not be missed. I haven't seen a good tearjerker for a long time and then I found this one unexpectedly. I did not know the film would turn this way, but that's one of the reasons why I liked it a lot. The twist at the final act was kind of predictable if you were focused enough in the early part, but nobody gets a clear picture of how it all ends. That's the point. Despite how the film characters react when the suspense was revealed, we have our own respond too, but unable to deliver where it requires. That is funny, but the film gets very serious towards the final segment and you get no time to react, you will be like unmoved till the end credits roll up. But sensing a tragedy is certain.

I recently saw 'Fathers & Daughter', that I anticipated something what this film offered. The story lines are completely different from these two films, but that father and daughter relationship thing, I liked very much from this one. Especially the emotions are the most crucial to narrate the tale and this film was way better in that perspective. Comparison between these two titles only on the sentimental side, other than that it's not fair to bring a debate on them. Anyway, both are the fine melodrama.

This film definitely would appeal strongly to the family audience and I highly recommend it to them. There's no strong nudity or the sex scenes, but thematically it goes some length to record the required event. Other than those couple of parts, this is a film for everybody. Very satisfied with the overall film. I might not consider it my favourite, but very close to be called one. Like I said the story was thoroughly written, so I'm feeling this film won't go unnoticed. I am not talking about it would find its audience, but the remakes. European, Korean, Bollywood, even a Hollywood version might come. So fingers crossed, but I suggest this one to watch if you are convinced with my review.

8.5/10

Hedvig Finch (Odessa Young) is the daughter of Charlotte (Miranda Otto) and Oliver (Ewen Leslie). They run into his old friend Christian (Paul Schneider) and reconnects with him. Christian has returned to town for his wealthy father Henry (Geoffrey Rush) who is marrying a much younger woman. Hedvig has boyfriend Adam (Wilson Moore). Walter (Sam Neill) is Oliver's father. A secret is revealed and Hedvig's world falls apart.

This is an adaptation of the 19th century play The Wild Duck. The storytelling is bit muddled at first. I don't know much about filmmaker Simon Stone but he seems to be a newcomer to directing cinema. It shows in the scattered nature of the plot flow. What he seems well adapted to is drawing out good performances from his actors. There is the big climatic scene with Hedvig and Oliver. Throughout, the acting is top shelf. I would reorganize the sequencing of events by doing the reveal earlier and Adam's departure later. It's all about Hedvig and how her life falls apart. Adam leaving should be the last straw. There are powerful moments in this movie. A more experienced filmmaker would be able to construct a more compelling flow of events.

The premise of the film may have been interesting? However, the American lead is weak and unsatisfying. I think casting a capable Aussie in the lead would have given the film much more authenticity. Having said this the film doesn't work very well from a viewer's perspective anyway.

I was lucky enough to see this film today at the Sydney Film Festival....adapted from Henrik Ibsens late 19th century play ''The Wild Duck'' but totally rewritten and retold into a modern Australian story set,maybe in the logging areas of Tasmania but actually filmed around the very atmospheric Snowy Mountain towns of Tumut and Batlow. The acting is superb, particularly the wonderful Ewen Leslie who just gets more magnificent in each role he takes on...Script and cinematography add to the overall brilliance of this terrific Jan Chapman production....a must see for all lovers of great Aussie films both here and overseas...I cant wait to see it again on its general release

In a drama worthy of being an Australian sop opera, we have a tangled saga between two families... one rich, one poor, involving affairs, betrayal and a secret birth.

It's all as messy as you might expect, with proceedings starting off slowly... but by the time everything emerges to light, fans of emotional debris caused by past regrettable actions are going to get more than their money's worth.

Sam Neill and Geoffrey Rush add starpower to an otherwise low-key cast, and sometimes the plot takes a backseat to uninteresting, trivial nonsense.

It's definitely a decent watch at least once though, for similar reasons to the Jerry Springer Show... to thank your lucky stars you're not related to any of these people, and being grateful for what you've got. 6/10.

When will it stop? This trend of dropping the story mid sentence and letting us figure it out for ourselves. Despite a stellar cast, an engaging story and haunting cinematography this film, like so many others these days, just QUITS and leaves the rest up to me. I want YOU to tell ME a story, not the other way around. LAZY!!! 😡

Perhaps I was not in the mood for it, went to watch "the daughter" after a coin toss with the alternative to be "the lady in the van". After reading the account of a Canadian here I was wondering if we saw the same thing! Yet all that was said was very much what I saw (save some early parts when I closed my eyes out of boredom) Some may say it was only my loss and they may be right, however that's how I felt. The inspiration for this film I'm told is a Danish work "the wild duck". Well the duck did it for me. As for the rest, so much can be written about it, or simply it can just be an every day sad story about things going wrong when people stop caring for each others. Yet I was surprised to be quite moved at some of the acting despite the lack of interest I seemed to have for the story. I guess I may be on my own with this assessment if I go by most others comment. In all fairness I have to state again that I can't follow a dialog that is not clear and loud enough so perhaps it's a little like reading a book with every third word missing and certainly affects my appreciation of movies when its dialog is crucial for the plot.

Why not title this The Alcoholic, since his needs drive the entire narrative?

I am both a proud Australian and an avid follower of movies.

The Australian film industry is something of which all Australians can be very proud. Australia has, I believe, just about the best success rate of movies made to significant movies made of any country in the world. So, I'll happily watch any Australian movie I might come across which brings me back to my review of this movie, The Daughter.

I had heard of Ibsen's The Wild Duck but I admit that I knew nothing about it at all. I can see that The Daughter had some good points, mostly the notable cast that signed on in its production. Also interesting to me in particular were the locations, some of which were familiar to me, being in the Snowy Mountains, not far from my home town, Canberra.

The acting performances were generally very good but, honestly, I just found the movie tedious to watch and frankly more than a bit boring.

That's about all I have to say. Disagree if you wish but this is not a movie I'll be seeking out to watch again.

The daughter is a perfect storm of family secrets that funnel into existence through a grandfather's marriage. When the alcoholic son comes back to town, he upends everything, especially the daughter's identity.

Henrik Ibsen has been a great Scandinavian playwright, very well known until the 80s in most Western Countries. Currently his (great) works are played less often and the man is less known.

So I won't be surprised if someone watched the present film unaware that its beautiful plot was taken from one of his masterpieces: 'Vildanden', published more than a Century ago.

The young Simon Stone showed a great deal of talent and very good taste in changing the story to make it more interesting and fitting with modern times (and Australia). Until I heard the name 'Hedvig' (only name left unchanged from the original play, a nice touch) I didn't recognize the source.

He made a very clever choice: on a soundest plot he built a catching movie, full of passion and realism, enhanced by great performances.

I won't tell anything about the changes he made: for those who know the original, you won't know if the ending has changed. For the others: enjoy.

'The Daughter' written and directed by Simon Stone is the big screen adaptation of a screenplay from the late nineteenth century. In this film we follow a character Christian who returns to his hometown only to discover an old family secret that can ruin the lives of those involved should this news come to light.

This movie features many different subplots that slowly unfold while the bigger overarching story is taking place. These subplots are mostly meant to give the many characters some much needed backstory. One problem with them however is that most of them do not seem to develop in an organic way and appear forced. Another problem is that more often than not the outcome is extremely predictable. As soon as a situation is set up it is almost always clear how it will end and quite a few times characters would act out of character just to make this ending possible. The same is true for the main plot considering one of the main characters only exists to set up certain story elements. This character never has a concrete reason for most of his actions while a lot of times his behavior does has a very emotional impact on some of the other characters. Just like the many subplots the main story is as predictable as can be. There is never really a moment where you're left wondering what is about to happen and what is left is a movie that is slowly progressing towards its end.

Over the course of the film a heavy emphasis is put on the characters. Most of the actors did a decent enough job to portray their character however the performance of Paul Schneider as Christian was simply abysmal. His performances never seemed genuine and whenever he appeared on the screen I was immediately taken out of the movie. This in turn made the performances of the other actors seem a lot worse than they actually were and ultimately there really is not a single performance that can be considered memorable. The directional style of Simon Stone also leaves much to be desired. There are some incredibly weird cuts during conversation and a lot of times the camera is focused on characters with their mouths closed while their voice can be hear from a shot that is about to follow. Now Stone did not fail completely as there are some gorgeous shots present in this film. These shots are mostly environmental ones and even though they are quite beautiful they almost always feel out place. The movies soundtrack also does not seem to fit the movie very well and a lot of times it appears to be forcing a certain emotion way to obviously.

The basic premise of the film could have provided some interesting scenario's however the convoluted story, terrible soundtrack and poor writing have made this an impossible feat. In the end 'The Daughter' was a complete waste of time with few redeeming qualities.

My rating: 4/10

I think this is the first review I have written on IMDb. I can't believe this movie is only rated 6.8. I haven't seen a play or read any book upon which this film is based, so I am rating this film based purely on its own merits. This is one of the most powerful movies I have seen in a long while. Performances were excellent. It's not often a movie leaves me stunned. Highly recommended

This viewer did not believe a single character in this, not their jobs, their social status, their relationship to each other, their clunkily exposed past, the town/country they lived in...it's all highly manufactured, self-conscious drama for drama's sake with everyone concerned striving for tragedy or meaning, but looking faker and faker as one pretentious scene follows another. None of the personnel involved escape the curse of this contrived world from the very first scene.

this movie was simply amazing the plot was perfect everything unfolds at just the right moments,it always leaves enough mystery and wonder to keep you wanting to know more until you get to the end and the writer just unloads everything onto the audience.the actors were spot on superb acting for every single character even the background actors were so good it was like watching real life unfold in front of your eyes and the directing well that is what made this movie what it is didn't it,i am very picky about how a movie is directed and Mr Simon Stone my hat is off to you sir all around great job on everyone's part this movie is a must see for everyone.

to everyone that took part in this movie thank you for this gem of a film.