Daughter's Daughter (Chinese: 女兒的女兒) is a 2024 Taiwanese drama film directed and written by Huang Xi, marking her second feature after Missing Johnny (2017), and co-produced by Hou Hsiao-hsien and Sylvia Chang. Chang also stars in a lead role, alongside Karena Lam and Eugenie Liu, with the film following a recently retired mother (Chang) who loses her daughter (Liu) in an accident and has to make decisions about a frozen embryo her daughter left behind.
The film had its world premiere in competition for the Platform Prize at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival on 12 September 2024, where Sylvia Chang received an honorable mention, and is scheduled for theatrical release in Taiwan in 2025.
Premise
After her lesbian daughter, Zuer, dies in a car accident while undergoing embryo cryopreservation, 60-year-old Aixia goes to the United States to take possession of the embryo. While there, she confronts Emma, the daughter Aixia gave up for adoption when she was a teenage student in New York.[2][3]
Cast
Sylvia Chang as Jin "Ai" Aixia, a recently retired mother of two daughters[4][5]
Karena Lam as Emma, Ai's daughter in New York whom she gave birth to and abandoned as a teenager[4]
Eugenie Liu as Fan Zuer, Ai's rebellious daughter whom she gave birth to in Taiwan years after Emma[4][6]
After producing the romance film Missing Johnny (2017), Huang Xi began developing her second feature film project,[7] with pre-production starting in 2018 and Hou Hsiao-hsien attached as a producer during the early stages.[8]Sylvia Chang, who had previously collaborated with Huang and Hou on the miniseries Twisted Strings [zh] (2022), joined the project five years prior to the start of filming.[7][9] Chang was approached by Hou and immediately agreed to take on the role of lead actress and co-producer after reading the script.[9] The screenplay took five years to develop,[10] a duration Chang attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which she was also involved in fine-tuning the script.[11][12] During rewrites, Huang initially considered changing the film's setting to be entirely in Taiwan to reduce production costs, but Chang insisted on retaining the overseas scenes and filming in the United States.[13] Huang also sought advice from filmmakers Wang Shaudi and Arthur Chu [zh] on the story.[13] In August 2023, Alannah Ong [zh] announced that she would be joining the cast.[14] The project eventually won the Excellent Screenplay Award at the 45th Golden Harvest Awards [zh] in November 2023,[15] which led to the project being greenlit on the National Development Fund of Taiwan Creative Content Agency.[2][16] On 5 December, Karena Lam announced that she would be collaborating with Sylvia Chang on a Taiwanese film, which was scheduled to begin shooting at Christmas.[17][18] Huang was announced as the director in the same month, with Liao Ching-sung, Yao Hung-i, and Hwarng Wern-ying [zh] joining as editor, cinematographer, and production designer, respectively.[19]
Filming
Principal photography of the film commenced on 14 December 2023, in Taipei, Taiwan, with Sylvia Chang and Karena Lam announced in lead roles, although Lam did not participate in the shoot in Taiwan.[19][20] Filming then moved to New York City, United States, in early 2024,[21] with location shooting took place at the New York City Subway.[22] The shoot was scheduled to wrapped prior to lunar new year,[19][20] and ultimately concluded within January.[8]
Post-production
On 16 May 2024, the film was presented at the Golden Horse Goes to Cannes section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, a new program collaborated by the Golden Horse Awards and Marché du Film with the support of Taiwan's Ministry of Culture.[23][24] It was in post-production stage at the time of its showcase.[25] Taiwan's Andrews Film secured the international distribution rights against Hong Kong's Edko Films prior to the film's world premiere.[2]
Release
Daughter's Daughter had its world premiere in the Platform Prize program at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival on 12 September 2024,[26][27] where Sylvia Chang received a special award and was given an honorable mention from the jury for her performance,[28][29] marking the first time an individual has been awarded this distinction since the Platform Prize was introduced in 2015.[30] In the awards announcement statement, the jury described the film as "emotionally nuanced and masterfully assembled", and Chang's performance as "exceptional artistry" and an "extremely multilayered portrayal of a conflicted mother".[27] It was also screened in competition at the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival,[31] and as the closing film of the 21st Hong Kong Asian Film Festival [zh].[32]
The film is set to be released theatrically in Taiwan in 2025.[13]
Reception
Josh Slater-Williams of IndieWire gave the film a B+ and described Daughter's Daughter as a deeply moving exploration of modern motherhood and complex themes of responsibility, highlighting Huang Xi's "patient storytelling" and Sylvia Chang and Eugenie Liu's "incredibly compelling" performances, which together navigate the blurred lines between selflessness and selfishness in the face of loss and regret.[4] Matthew Joseph Jenner of the International Cinephile Society gave the film 4/5 stars and acknowledged the film as "complex and harrowing, but poetically beautiful", which deftly explores the challenges of motherhood and intergenerational relationships through Sylvia Chang's powerful performance, which together create a poignant portrayal of a woman's journey through grief and healing without resorting to melodrama.[33]
Ulkar Alakbarova of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists praised the film for its profoundly moving exploration of motherhood, grief, and the complexities of legacy, emphasizing Sylvia Chang's character's struggle to navigate the responsibilities of being a guardian to her deceased daughter's embryo while reflecting on the themes of love and sacrifice.[34] Drew Burnett Gregory of queer magazine Autostraddle, however, offered a rather negative review, criticizing the film for using tropes about queer death without appropriate exploration. While it features strong performances from Sylvia Chang and Karena Lam, its overlong runtime, unremarkable craft, and blunt writing make it a mostly unengaging experience, with missed opportunities to portray the life of the missing queer character and her community.[35]
Related work
While producing and starring as a mother in the film, Sylvia Chang collected various thoughts and reflections on parental relationships, which she plans to publish as a book. The book is currently scheduled for release, tentatively titled Daughter.[16][36]
