Thrills, misunderstandings, and unconditional love. 7 movies about father-daughter relationships

7. "Fathers and Daughters"  

• 2015
• USA, Italy
• Drama
• Director: Gabriele Muccino
• Starring: Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Paul, Diane Kruger, Quvenzhané Wallis
• IMDb Rating: 7.0

A car accident leaves popular writer Jake Davis (Russell Crowe) hospitalized and his wife dead. The injuries prevent him from being able to fully raise his young daughter Katie (Amanda Seyfried). He asks his wife's relatives to look after her for a while, but in the end they do not return the girl to him. Katie is having a hard time with the separation and misses her father. After 25 years, she tries to understand her own experiences and overcome the childhood trauma associated with the loss of her parents.

The screenplay for the movie eas in the 2012 Black List, a list of the year's most promising unfinished screenplays.

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6. "The Descendants"

• 2011
• USA
• Drama
• Director: Alexander Payne
• Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amarna Miller, Nick Krause, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard, Patricia Hastie
• IMDb Rating: 7.3

Successful lawyer Matt King (George Clooney) has a fairy tale-like life: he owns vast lands in Hawaii, lives with his beloved wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) and raises two daughters — Alex (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller). But at one point everything falls apart: his wife falls into a coma, relations with his daughters cease to get along, and creditors demand to sell the land. In addition, from friends Matt learns that his wife had a lover.

The film won prestigious awards, including an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and a Golden Globe for Best Film and Best Actor (George Clooney).

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5. "Toni Erdmann" 

• 2016
• Drama, comedy
• Countries: Germany, Austria
• Director: Maren Ade
• Starring: Peter Simonischek, Sandra Hüller, Michael Wittenborn, Thomas Loibl, Trystan Pütter
• IMDb Rating: 7.4

Ines (Sandra Hüller) has a great career in consulting and no life but work. The girl's elderly father Winfried (Peter Simonischek) is very worried about the fact that they don't socialize much. In the end, he finds an unusual solution: he creates a new identity, puts on a wig and strange false teeth and pretends to be Toni Erdmann — a rich man who comes to business meetings with Ines. Through this cunning plan, the relatives become closer.

The story is largely based on director Maren Ade's relationship with her own father, who was a big fan of comedian Andy Kaufman. Critics were confident that the movie would win the Golden Bough at the Cannes Film Festival, but that didn't happen: "Toni Erdmann" lost to Ken Loach's "I, Daniel Blake".

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4. "I Am Sam"

• 2001
• USA
• Drama
• Director: Jessie Nelson
• Starring: Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dakota Fanning, Dianne Wiest, Loretta Devine
• IMDb Rating: 7.6

Sam Dawson (Sean Penn) is a good-natured waiter at a café with developmental disabilities. One day his girlfriend leaves him and leaves him a newborn daughter. Sam has to deal with raising the child alone. Strangely enough, everything goes well until the social service finds out about Sam's peculiarities. Deciding that he cannot cope with parenting, the guardianship takes away his little daughter. Now Sam has to fight for the little girl, despite the fact that he himself is almost like a child.

The movie grossed over $100 million at the box office and earned Sean Penn an Oscar nomination.

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3. "Aftersun"

• 2022
• UK, USA
• Drama
• Director: Charlotte Wells
• Starring: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Sally Messham, Spike Fern
• IMDb Rating: 7.6

The parents of 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) are divorced and the girl lives with her mom (Celia Rowlson-Hall). One day, the father Calum (Paul Mescal) takes the child on a summer vacation to Turkey to spend a few days together. There, Sophie meets a group of teenagers, kisses a boy, and realizes for the first time that her father is suffering from unresolved heartache. This pain gradually affects their relationship as well.

The movie was nominated for several prestigious awards, including an Oscar and a BAFTA for Best Actor (Paul Mescal).

"A stunning movie. Best movie I've seen in the last 5 years for sure", — Lighter.

"I've already seen this movie twice in the past week. It's terribly heartbreaking. I don't know why it's so ingrained in my heart. Paul conveyed his character perfectly. Before watching it, I thought I was going to be hurt by the father-daughter relationship theme, but I ended up hurting more for Calum's personality issues. It's just the way it is when things are bad in your soul, head and heart. Such pain, such reactions and wanting to end it", — kimhanbabo.

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2. "The Whale"

• 2022
• USA
• Drama
• Director: Darren Aronofsky
• Starring: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton
• IMDb Rating: 7.7

Charlie (Brendan Fraser) is a literature professor weighing almost 300 pounds. After losing a loved one, he developed an eating disorder. Because of his weight, Charlie has one foot in the grave and his heart is about to fail. When his grown-up daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink) shows up on his doorstep, the hero realizes that this may be his last chance to bond with the daughter he hasn't seen in years.

Brendan Fraser's stunning return to movies after a multi-year hiatus. Participation in the film brought the actor the first in his career Oscar for Best Actor.

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1. "The Father"

• 2020
• UK, France, USA
• Drama
• Director: Florian Zeller
• Starring: Sir Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Olivia Williams, Imogen Poots
• IMDb Rating: 8.2

Eighty-year-old Anthony (Sir Anthony Hopkins) has dementia but refuses to let a caregiver near him, despite his daughter Anne's (Olivia Colman) attempts to arrange care for him. At the same time, the character is in prostration and constantly forgets the past, becoming confused about the present. Anthony does not understand what is going on around him or what his daughter looks like. Every day for the old man is a series of false discoveries.

The film won two Academy Awards for Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

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