“A complex and harrowing, but poetically beautiful social realist drama.”

There’s nothing quite like the relationship between a mother and her children, especially when the connection between them is formed from a place of genuine love for one another. However, maintaining a strong relationship can sometimes be a challenge, particularly in instances where our lives begin to deviate, going in directions different than what was originally intended for us – and sometimes, the unexpected can occur at the most inopportune moments and derail the entire course of one’s life. In his sophomore feature directorial effort Huang Xi explores this very subject, tackling the complexities of motherhood in the form of Daughter’s Daughter. It follows a few years in the life of Jin Aixia, a mild-mannered resident of Taipei who has seemingly settled into the routine that comes with being on the other side of middle age, while navigating the challenges of a mother with dementia and a pair of daughters with whom she has a contentious relationship. However, when one of her children is a victim of a fatal accident Jin Aixia finds herself on the brink of collapse, especially when she discovers that she is now the legal guardian of her daughter’s embryo, which was supposed to be used in an imminent IVF procedure. Suddenly our protagonist not only has to endure the unspeakable pain of losing a child, but also battle the specters of the past and the intimidating nature of the future while maintaining her sanity and composure, which is ultimately all she has left in the wake of such a tragedy. In a complex and harrowing, but poetically beautiful social realist drama, Huang crafts a meaningful film that touches on a number of profound themes, each one of them recognizable and extraordinarily resonant, even if only from a distance.

Huang is not a filmmaker who finds value in forcing the audience to decode his work in order to understand the underlying message since he makes the themes of Daughter’s Daughter clear from its first moments, which take place in a hospital where all of the major characters are introduced (a smart way of establishing background to the plot without relying too heavily on exposition), and which are then ultimately developed as the film progresses. At its heart, this film is an intergenerational story about the relationship between women in a single family, and how they are all wildly different in every conceivable way but ultimately still find their way to one another in times of crisis. The protagonist in the film is someone who exists as both a mother and a daughter – on one side, she is watching her own elderly mother gradually slip away as dementia erodes the woman who raised her, while on the other she is the parent of two adult women who not only hold deep resentment for certain aspects of their upbringing but demonstrate a refusal to be a part of each other’s lives, which is a devastating realization for a parent who would hope that their children would at least support each other. This is a radical over-simplification of this film, and most of the impact of Daughter’s Daughter comes in the moments in between these broad strokes of social realist storytelling. These moments come particularly to the forefront when we can see the director making a concerted effort to look at the journey of the protagonist as she attempts to handle both the unbearable weight of the past and the severe anxieties she has about the future, which take her on a journey of healing that gives her the opportunity to look at life from a different perspective and learn to support herself through improving as both a daughter and a mother, working to overcome the clear flaws that she discovers in the aftermath of an enormous tragedy.

More than anything else, Daughter’s Daughter can be viewed as a portrait of a deeply flawed woman coming to terms with her own shortcomings and attempting to overcome them while facing the challenges presented by a continuous cavalcade of misfortune that tests her resolve. It’s designed as a complex character study, and required someone of exceptional skill to bring the role to life – and Huang has the immense privilege of having the incredible Sylvia Chang onboard to play the part. This is not a simple character to interpret, as she contains numerous layers, many of which are difficult to unpack and understand at first, and which only become more clear as the story progresses and we begin to get further glimpses into her psychological state. Chang is the adhesive that holds this entire film together, and in the hands of a lesser performer the story would not have been nearly as moving or effective and would have most likely devolved into nothing more than a melodramatic jumble of traumatic incidents and heavy-handed moments of social commentary. Working in tandem, Chang and the director craft the story of a woman who is forced to endure a number of challenges, each one threatening to push her over the edge – but just as she teeters dangerously close to collapsing, she finds a source of comfort or motivation to keep moving forward. Without such a strong performance right at the center of the film Daughter’s Daughter would have been nothing more than an overwrought exercise in misery and trauma. Not many films are wholeheartedly bolstered by the actors, but in this instance the story depends on the audience not only being convinced of the authenticity of this character’s journey but entirely invested in it. Chang remains one of the most magnetic and powerful screen presences of her generation and is just as dynamic today as she was when she was at her peak; this performance leaves an astonishing impression that lingers with the viewer long after the hauntingly beautiful final moments.

There are themes embedded in Daughter’s Daughter that would be objectively impossible to portray on screen in any manner that isn’t genuinely devastating since some concepts are simply too uncomfortable or harrowing to be easily explored. Yet, Huang makes the effort to confront them directly and without any hesitation, looking at the harsh realities that some people have to face, in an attempt to show that even in the most devastating of circumstances there is a way forward for those willing to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. There isn’t any way for a film to accurately convey the pain and despair that the characters at the heart of this film experience, but the purpose isn’t to place the viewer in a position where we understand how the protagonist feels, but rather observing her gradual journey towards recovery. This is a path that is never easy or free of complications or impediments, but still navigable by simply taking everything one step at a time. It’s an extreme simplification of the grieving process, and recovery is never linear, but the film does provide a concise and meaningful glimpse into one such journey as seen through the eyes of someone processing a number of challenges, all the while attempting to maintain her grasp on reality. Anchored by an extraordinary performance from the exceptional Chang as well as an excellent supporting cast that bolsters her stunning work, and driven by a genuine sense of emotional complexity that is heartfelt and meaningful without ever becoming heavy-handed, Daughter’s Daughter is a powerful film about challenging subject matter, pieced together with heart and soul by a director who never trivializes trauma or grief as mere fodder for a melodramatic story, but rather uses it as the foundation for a truly compelling exploration of the human condition and its many intricate nuances.