Your Sister's Sister

There’s a deceptive simplicity to Your Sister’s Sister, Lynn Shelton’s quietly stunning 2011 film. It opens like a modest indie drama — a cabin in the woods, a grieving man, a bottle of tequila — but unfolds into something far more layered: a story about the fragility of love, the complexity of family, and the blurry lines between comfort and betrayal. It is, in every way that matters, a film about what it means to be human.The story is set in motion by Jack (Mark Duplass), a man still unraveling a year after his brother’s death. His best friend, Iris (Emily Blunt), sends him to her family’s remote cabin to regroup. But when he arrives, he finds Iris’s half-sister, Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt), already there, nursing her own recent heartbreak. What follows is an unexpected night of intimacy between two wounded strangers — a decision that complicates everything when Iris shows up the next morning.The plot may seem small — the kind of thing that could be resolved with one conversation — but that’s precisely what makes the film so compelling. Shelton isn’t interested in melodrama or contrived tension. She’s interested in people — how they speak, how they hesitate, how they reach for closeness and push it away in the same breath. The film’s strength lies in its naturalism. Conversations feel improvised, lived-in. Emotions shift subtly, often wordlessly, in the spaces between what characters say and what they mean.Emily Blunt gives one of her most quietly affecting performances as Iris — open-hearted, emotionally fluent, and quietly unraveling. There’s a softness to her that anchors the film, even when the narrative veers into murkier territory. She doesn’t overplay anything. Her heartbreak creeps in gradually, in hesitant smiles and long glances, in the way her voice falters when she tries to hold things together. She brings a generosity to Iris — the kind of person who carries other people’s pain because she’s not sure what to do with her own.Rosemarie DeWitt, as Hannah, is equally layered. She could easily be written as an antagonist, but the film refuses such simplicity. DeWitt plays her as someone deeply principled, yet impulsive in the way people often are when grief and desire collide. Her actions are questionable, even selfish, but never without depth. She’s searching — for meaning, for control, for something to make her feel less alone. And Duplass, often associated with deadpan comedy, brings an unexpected emotional honesty to Jack. He’s messy, wounded, unsure of himself, and utterly believable.The film’s setting — a misty Pacific Northwest island — mirrors its emotional landscape. It’s quiet, remote, a little lonely. The cinematography is intimate, often handheld, giving the sense that we’re eavesdropping on something real. There’s no score to guide the viewer’s feelings, only the soft rustling of trees, the clink of glasses, the cadence of conversation. That restraint gives the film its emotional weight. It never tells us how to feel. It trusts that we’ll feel it anyway.At its core, Your Sister’s Sister is about how easily we hurt the people we love, and how forgiveness — of others, of ourselves — is rarely clean or immediate. It’s a film about how grief doesn’t always look like sorrow, and how love doesn’t always arrive in the right order. It’s funny, heartbreaking, and deeply humane.It’s the kind of film that ends not with resolution, but with a breath held just a second too long. And in that breath, something true.

If you enjoy dialogue movies that are funny, but with an edge, I'd recommend this. It's not a comedy, but has quite a bit of humor in it.

"Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sisterAnd lord help the sister, who comes between me and my man"Irving BerlinEmily Blunt plays Iris, a sister to Hannah, played by Rosemarie Dewitt. They are really step sisters but who cares? Emily's best friend is Jack played by MarkDuplass. Mark is new to me in the acting word, but he is superb. He plays the laid back ex-brother-in-law to Emily. She was married to his brother but split because things didn't work out. It is the anniversary of the brother's death, and friends meet and greet. Jack has unresolved issues and Iris suggests he go to her family's cabin, an island off Seattle. Indeed he does, he bikes to the ferry and then onto the island. Breathless he arrives, only to find Hannah there trying to get over a seven year relationship. They talk, Hannah says it is fine for Jack to stay. They get along and things seem fine and dandy. The next day, Iris shows up with food for Jack, surprised to find Hannah.This is a 'feeling, talking ' film that all will enjoy. It seemed at times to be more of an unscripted film, the flow is so well done. Little looks, asides, umm's and ahh's are placed just right. The film really succeeds because no one pushes too hard, no one is over the top, the acting is just superb. The storyline is not cliched as played. The scenery is beautiful to and fro from the island. This is an entertaining film right from the get go!Highly Recommended. prisrob 01-13-13[[ASIN:B002MQU2JE Sunshine Cleaning]How I Got LostTrue Adolescents

Your Sister's Sister is a quirky romantic comedy starring a very talented cast including: Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt, and Rosemarie Dewitt. The story is simple, Jack (Duplass) has still not fully come to terms with the death of his brother Tom, so Tom's ex-girlfriend Iris (Blunt) who's also Jack's best friend suggests Jack spend some alone time in her family's remote cabin in the woods. So once Jack arrives at the cabin, someone is already staying there, Iris's neurotic sister Hannah (Dewitt). Jack takes immediate liking to Hannah and something happens that makes for an interesting film, I won't give away more than that but I truly felt Your Sister's Sister is a funny and true-to-life film. The acting is superb, the writing is flawless, and I highly recommend this adorable indie flick, enjoy!