Daughters

PG-13

Released Aug 9

1h 42m

Documentary

List

100%

Tomatometer

64 Reviews

89%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C. jail. A generation of youth bare the weight of mass incarceration on their childhoods. These wounds impair development and can last a lifetime. In-person visitation for these families has been systematically shut down across the US since 2014, replaced with video conference apps the families have to pay for. This unique program involves dance, touch and celebration that transcends the prison walls. On the inside, we watch the fathers go through a 12-week Fatherhood Training Program that prepares them for the intensity of the dance and the emotional fallout.

Watch on Netflix

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

In defiance of an inhumane prison system emerges a tender and touching light for incarcerated fathers to finally hold and dance with their Daughters.

Read Critics Reviews

Claudia Puig

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

A poignant and beautiful film.

Aug 28, 2024

Full Review

Peter Rainer

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

I defy anybody not to get teary-eyed.

Aug 28, 2024

Full Review

Ty Burr

Ty Burr's Watch List (Substack)

Racial inequities of American culture and the cruelties of the carceral state are never directly addressed in Daughters. They don’t need to be. It’s all right there in the faces of a father and his child seeing each other for the first time.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 23, 2024

Full Review

Rubén Rosario

MiamiArtZine

In Daughters, a wrenching and tender portrait of hope and disillusionment, they convey their call for prison reform by simply letting the youngest people impacted by a penal code that separates them from their fathers tell us who they are.

Sep 16, 2024

Full Review

Daniel Allen

In Review Online

These aesthetic flourishes add a pronounced emotional texture to Daughters... The film never feels insistent or instructive, introducing the main stories to us gradually and letting the human experiences at their center speak for themselves.

Sep 7, 2024

Full Review

James Croot

Stuff.co.nz

By often shooting from the girls’ point-of-view, or focusing the camera on them, Rae allows you to really feel immersed in the occasion – and its emotion.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 29, 2024

Full Review

Read all reviews

dk p

A tearjerker through and through. I felt protective of the daughters but I think there was healing for all despite the pain. None the less, I wept and wept. Life is painful sometimes.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/06/24

Full Review

Flavia Gomes R

We all deserve a second chance and to make the best use of it. Great film!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/02/24

Full Review

Mireya G

I’m so glad I came across this. Its so worth watching. These baby girls need their daddy's, and their daddy’s need them as well. I wish them all the best and praying for their safe return home🙏🏼💜

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/02/24

Full Review

Alejandro E

En forma vivida, e interesante, se narra que efecto tiene el distanciamiento entre hijos y padres en condición de cárcel, y el efecto positivo que tienen, en ambos, convivios de esta índole. A modo de documental, merece una oportunidad, Bastante.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/31/24

Full Review

Evan C

Stunning! #DaughtersOnNetflix, simply put, is a beautiful doc, both in its powerful story, but also its moving visuals, editing style & music. Told from the perspective of the daughters, it's a refreshingly authentic story about the importance of fatherhood. A real tearjerker.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/29/24

Full Review

Drew F

One of the best docs I've ever seen. Beautiful mix of narrative-film cinematography but with real subjects. Moving story about fathers and daughters as well. 9.5/10.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/27/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Angela Patton

Director

Natalie Rae

Director

Natalie Rae

Producer

Lisa Mazzotta

Producer

Justin Benoliel

Producer

Mindy Goldberg

Producer

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Every Body

98%

96%

Every Body

TRAILER

for Every Body

On the Way Home

%

%

On the Way Home

A Binding Truth

100%

%

A Binding Truth

TRAILER

for A Binding Truth

The Insurrectionist Next Door

83%

57%

The Insurrectionist Next Door

TRAILER

for The Insurrectionist Next Door

Against All Enemies

92%

94%

Against All Enemies

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

15 Best Documentaries We Saw at Sundance 2024

View more photos

Synopsis

Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C. jail. A generation of youth bare the weight of mass incarceration on their childhoods. These wounds impair development and can last a lifetime. In-person visitation for these families has been systematically shut down across the US since 2014, replaced with video conference apps the families have to pay for. This unique program involves dance, touch and celebration that transcends the prison walls. On the inside, we watch the fathers go through a 12-week Fatherhood Training Program that prepares them for the intensity of the dance and the emotional fallout.

Director: Angela Patton, Natalie Rae
Producer: Natalie Rae, Lisa Mazzotta, Justin Benoliel, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi, James Cunningham
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Object & Animal, Epoch Films, Park Pictures, OPC, XTR
Rating: PG-13 (Language|Some Thematic Elements)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 9, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 14, 2024
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Most Popular at Home Now