Your Sister's Sister

Outstanding 3 performance drama
"Your Sister's Sister" (90 min.) starts off with an eye-popping 5 min. prologue: we see a group of people mourning someone's passing, and just when one of them is giving a eulogy on how great a guy that person was, Jack (played by Mark Duplass) interupts and gives his own (less idyllic) version of that man, who turns out to be his brother. Iris (played by Emily Blunt), who is Jack's best friend and was the girlfriend of his brother, eventually talks to Jack to control his emotions.

Flash forward: at Iris' suggestion, Jack agrees to retreat to the country house of Iris' family, to 'clear his head' and some much needed 'me time'. Much to Jack's surprise, it turns out that Iris' sister Hannah (played by Rosemarie DeWitt) is also there, also in need of some 'me time' after just coming out of a 7 year relationship. The next 20 min. or so nothing happens, other than Hannah and Jack sitting at the dinner table and talking, talking, talking (it's done brilliantly). Things develop...

Strong suspense drives a modest little gem
If I'd heard the plot of this before seeing it, I'd have passed. It's tough to summarize--the magic is in the watching. So I'd have missed this little marvel of writing, acting, and directing. Jack is unsettled a year after his brother's death, and his best friend Iris (the dead brother's ex-girl friend? wife? doesn't really matter)sends him off to her family's cottage in the woods to regroup in peace and quiet. But Iris' sister Hannah has also taken refuge there, and Jack and Hannah console each other. At least we think that's what we saw. When Iris shows up next day, a lot of unsaid things float around, only some of which the audience knows. Because each of the three has a secret, because almost all the action/drama takes place in a short time, in a small place, and because the acting and directing are top-notch, this study in the complex relationship between three decent, though often confused, people, commands the viewer's interest. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next...

Romantic Comedy it hit every note.
The movie had a few brilliant twists and turns, and I was laughing through a lot of it. It was really a rather perfect movie for what it was trying to do. I went into it not expecting much, but I left grading it a 9 or 10 out of 10. I only have a handful of movies that rate that highly on my list. Your sister's sister is actually a great movie to watch with a significant other as it shows a lot of different kinds of relationships. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys just a very entertaining movie where the acting and directing were matched well together.

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