The new Netflix movie Daughters has a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score from the critics, but hardly anyone seems to be watching.
Daughters appears to have flown completely under the radar as it hasn't reached Netflix's global top 10 most-watched movies – even though these five thriller flops did last week. Since it was released on August 14, it has received 50 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, giving it a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
The award-winning documentary is certainly a hidden gem buried amongst everything new on Netflix in August 2024. When I went to find Daughters in Netflix's 'New' section, I had to click through four rows of recommendations before I found it, so it's incredibly easy for new titles to get lost in the content mines of the best streaming service and not be watched by many people amongst the mainstream competition.
Another reason Daughters may not be getting the attention it deserves is possibly because of the heartbreaking subject matter. The documentary centres on four girls who prepare to reunite with their fathers through a special Daddy Daughter Dance at a Washington DC jail. The documentary lays bare the emotional anguish the father's imprisonment has on the young girls and subscribers may opt to watch an action-packed blockbuster over the weekend to save themselves from the tears. However, Daughters is a powerful and touching portrayal of love that deserves more attention.
Get the tissues ready
Easily one of the best Netflix documentaries, Daughters follows Aubrey, Santana, Raziah and Ja'Ana as they prepare for a Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers as part of a unique fatherhood program where in-person visits have been stopped since 2014. On the inside, the fathers go through a 12-week Fatherhood Training Program that readies them for the emotional fallout of the day and dedicating themselves for their daughters.
Daughters is an eight-year documentary journey by filmmaker Natalie Rae and social change advocate Angela Patton where the girls also talk about their aspirations, dreams and the emotional impact their father's absence has had on them.
While Netflix's marketing hasn't been doing Daughters justice, there have been a swathe of positive reviews with Mashable writing: "Daughters is easily one of the best documentaries you'll see all year. It's enlightening, it's moving, and it's stunning to watch. Patton and Rae focus on the experience of four little girls to illustrate such a specific loss that's often overlooked in conversations about the criminal justice system."
The Guardian added: "I found myself choking up barely a minute into this heartfelt documentary about a daddy-daughter dance scheme for the girls of incarcerated fathers in Washington DC, such is the emotional wallop of this terrific, Sundance prize-winning film." Meanwhile, Rolling Stone said: “'Overwhelming' doesn’t begin to describe it. Boxes of tissues can’t stem the tide of tears - onscreen or in your living room. Even the toughest viewer will be reduced to a puddle."
So it looks like I will need tissues when I get round to watching Daughters.
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