Ma meilleure amie, sa soeur et moi

This is the first time I have ever felt so strongly about a movie to write a review. I watched it on an airplane yesterday and cannot stop thinking about the characters. I can't get over how real they were and how great the acting was. I laughed and cried and wanted to be friends with them. The end kills me though! I need a sequel!! Or I've even kept imagining a television series. I would LOVE to be able to continue watching these characters and see their lives play out. When I saw the preview, I thought, hmm this should be interesting with just 3 people in the movie pretty much the whole time, but I seriously loved it and thought it was brilliant. I didn't want it to end!

My rating: 88/100

I ended up seeing this movie at the Toronto film fest in a rather circuitous way but I'm awfully glad I did.

Nary a car chase nor explosion, but instead a quiet and thoughtful film. It touches on relationships, death, siblings, betrayal, unrequited love, honesty, fears, and forgiveness… and does so in a very believable and refreshing way.

Most of the movie takes place at a secluded rustic waterfront cottage, a family cabin that Iris (Emily Blunt) has suggested her 'bestie', Jay (Mark Duplass) visit to clear his head; he's still emotionally stuck at the one year anniversary of his brother's death.

The secluded locale - without phones, computers and the usually daily distractions - is the conduit which allows the abundance of emotions and introspective feelings bubble up and expose themselves to a trio of characters connected in various and interesting ways.

These three individuals are both frustrating with their flaws, yet endearing with their fragility and weaknesses. How easy it is to identify with all of them! … which can perhaps be attributed to the impromptu conversation Director Lynn Shelton nurtured and encouraged from the mere 70 page script. She confessed that 75% of the dialogue was improvised allowing a unique honesty to develop within each character, thanks to a stellar cast.

I'm thankful Shelton stuck around Toronto for this third screening – she's originally from Seattle which is where this was filmed - and was more than willing to open up to the audience at a post Q&A where we heard her speak passionately and reflectively about the 12 day shoot (wow!) with almost no funding and how she lucked in to Emily Blunt coming on board (thanks to a shared agent) who was keen on the challenge and experience. Also it was nice to hear that during the festival the film had found distribution through IFC, and that cast and crew would now be compensated for this wonderful collaboration.

This film's a winner to me. I hope you have an opportunity to see it.

A dialogue heavy film, which I am often very fond of and this is no exception. Basically a three- hander with a trio of sublime and believable performances from Mark Duplass, the always excellent Emily Blunt and the seriously under rated and forever sister (United States of Tara, Rachel's Getting Married) Rosemarie DeWitt. They simply inhabit these characters.

A film told with great honesty and natural flair, with a lot of the dialogue being apparently improvised, I was entertained and intrigued from beginning to end. I laughed out loud on a number of occasions at the spoken wit and the extreme awkwardness of some of the scenes. These are all flawed people, but they are all relatable and likable.

It does fall into a little bit of predictability and cliché as it moves on through the story and I surprisingly had no issue with one aspect that angers many a gay woman, as to me it made sense for the character.

It was a journey I very much enjoyed and it felt quite different from your average rom-com.

This film is about a man who gets invited to a country house by his best friend, where he sleeps with his best friend's sister after a drunken night.

"Your Sister's Sister" is close to a single location film with a minimal number of characters. Most of the film takes place in a house with only three people. For a film like this to be good, either the characters have to be interesting, or the plot has to be emotionally intense. "Your Sister's Sister" is unfortunately neither. The plot lacks tension or emotional climax. It is just too plain to sustain attention or interest. Mark Duplass portrays an unlikable loser, and yet he gets all the adoration from the two sisters which is rather unbelievable. Rosemarie DeWitt plays a selfish woman, and she is not likable either. Emily Blunt's character is the only interesting character, but she is not enough to save the uninteresting plot or characters. It is unfortunate that "Your Sister's Sister" is an underwhelming drama, as it could have been a lot more than it currently is.

Smart film. Smart dialog. Smart characters. No stereotypes. Not a cliché-driven romantic comedy, which obviously put off some of those who reacted negatively.

From start to finish, the roles and situations develop in unpredictable ways that never seem false. There must have been a lot of improvisation go into the script, because the conversations never sound false, and the characters all act and react in ways that could not be more natural.

It is funny without being silly, and it is sad at times in ways that measure the depth of the relationships. Great stuff!