Huang Xi’s new film is a world-class cinematic marvel, presenting a whole new world of mother-daughter relationships and every atom of its structure in a film full of soul and nuance. The TIFF Platform section is an absolute treat this year!
Love works in mysterious ways—perhaps that’s the perfect tagline for this film. Love doesn’t always appear in romantic relationships between couples waiting for a connection; sometimes, it’s present in the special bond given to us from birth—the mother-child relationship. The truth is, being in a relationship isn’t always a bed of roses; there are many challenges to overcome before one can fully appreciate the priceless love that exists. Director Huang Xi captures the essence of these aspects of love and weaves them into her exhilarating film, Daughter’s Daughter (女兒的女兒), which celebrated its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
Jin Aixia is the mother of two daughters: Fan Zuer (Eugenie Liu), who lives with her in Taipei, and Emma (Karena Lam), who was raised in New York. Zuer, a lesbian, decides to have a child with her partner through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and travels to the U.S. to undergo the procedure. Aixia occasionally visits her own mother, who is in the early stages of dementia but can still manage daily life with proper supervision. Then, a devastating phone call from New York delivers the worst news a mother could hear: Zuer and her partner have died in a car accident. Grieving and distraught, Aixia faces another shock when she learns that she is the legal guardian of Zuer’s healthy embryo, leaving its future in her hands. A complex series of events unfolds, encompassing truths, bitter moments, and memories that profoundly shape Aixia.
It’s important to recognize that director Huang Xi excels in crafting delicate, nuanced character studies, grounding complex relationships in personal transformation. The film beautifully intertwines three generations, each with its own distinct identity. Aixia represents an older woman content with how her life is progressing. She has overcome feelings of isolation and finds fulfillment in helping her mother. Yet, her view of Zuer is different. Aixia perceives Zuer’s life choices as immature and lacking control, even though Zuer’s decisions are not inherently wrong. This disparity between mothers still learning about the LGBTQIA+ community and forward-thinking individuals creates tension between Aixia and Zuer. While Aixia doesn’t openly express her guilt about her relationship with Emma, the distance between them is evident in their conversations as Aixia struggles to find common ground.
Despite her limited screen time, Zuer plays a key role in illustrating the realism of family relationships. Her arguments with Aixia may seem like a problem, but they actually reflect the depth of their bond. The saying “Anger is the strongest form of love” fits perfectly in the context of Aixia and Zuer’s relationship. Despite their differences, the love and care they have for each other is clear, especially when Zuer calls her mother, crying and telling her that she misses her. Huang Xi masterfully analyzes mother-daughter relationships with remarkable precision.
Emma, on the other hand, is the most affected by their fractured family. Having lived apart from her mother for years, she has bottled up her pain and frustration without any resolution. These emotions resurface when Aixia visits Zuer’s body in New York. Emma is direct, cold, and argumentative toward Aixia, though it’s clear she still cares for her. Their occasional misunderstandings gradually reveal the deeper truths of their relationship. Huang Xi sheds light on the pain of children who grow up without maternal care, showing how this absence impacts both their development and future generations. Yet, Emma serves as an example of the resilience many women possess, offering love and care despite the emotional gaps in their own past.
Sylvia Chang as Jin Aixia is magnificent, delivering a natural and authentic performance that feels like a documentary of a real-life story. Chang vividly portrays the full range of emotions—love, anger, despair—all of which significantly influence her character’s transformation. Liao Ching-song’s precise editing enhances the film’s unique screenplay, revealing answers to the story’s mysteries with a refreshing subtlety.
Produced by Sylvia Chang and legendary filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, Daughter’s Daughter is a soulful, magnetic, and powerful film that captures the voices of multiple generations of women—mothers and daughters—upholding a deeply realistic and affectionate form of connection. Huang Xi has created a world-class cinematic marvel, exploring the entire universe of a mother-daughter relationship, down to its smallest details. The film presents the fundamental components of loss, trauma, regret, tranquility, tenderness, sadness, anxiety, and love that ultimately grows into profound acceptance. It reminds us that humans are imperfect, that failure and success coexist, and that even scientific interventions cannot alter the beauty of personal growth through life’s challenges. By the time the film ends, you’ll feel profoundly changed from the person you were 126 minutes earlier, with your heart weighed down by the search for genuine love.
Explore our coverage of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival here.
