Dig this. Jack, (Mark Duplass) who is still struggling to deal with the death of his brother a year later, is suggested to by his best friend, Iris,(Emily Blunt) to take some time alone at her family's secluded cabin to clear his head. There, he finds that the place isn't so secluded, as his best friend's lesbian sister, Hannah,(Rosemarie Dewitt) is there, and the two share a night of drunken chatter which leads to equally intoxicated(not exactly intoxicating) sex. Then the best friend shows up suddenly the next morning. Awkward!
Sounds like something out of a bad sitcom, right? So did 2009's Humpday, Lynne Shelton's witty, razor sharp comedy about two very male, very heterosexual best friends who make a pact to have sex with each other as some sort of art project. Silly as it seemed, Shelton's understated, realistic writing made it work, navigating the tension that comes from guy relationships. Here, she's working on a slightly different playing field, but the results are no less dynamic than before.
Shelton weaves an intricate web connecting these three people. Iris is more than just Jack's friend, she was also his brother's ex-wife, a fact which has made their tightening bond awkward. Hannah, who just ended a relationship with her long-term partner, is suffocating under feelings of being unwanted, a ticking biological clock, and loneliness. That last point is one afflicting them all, really, and it drives them to hurt one another in ways that are unexpected. Much like Humpday, the story may end up in a familiar place, but the route it takes getting there is full of unexpected, natural swerves.
What separates Shelton from other writers is that she seems to have every single facet of these characters figure out. She understands them on levels others were never attempt to explore. Here, that gift is put to extraordinary use in in the sisterly bond between Hannah and Iris. Emily Blunt, no stranger to roles like this(such as in Sunshine Cleaning opposite Amy Adams) is a natural fit for Shelton's low-wattage style. Rosemarie Dewitt, who first blew down festival doors a few years ago in Rachel Getting Married, is a perfect jumble of contradictions. Duplass, however, is having the Sundance of a lifetime. With three very different projects(Black Rock, Safety Not Guaranteed), Duplass is showing he's someone to be reckoned with both behind and in front of the camera. His Jack is someone every guy both would aspire to be more like, and yet never want his life in a million years. He's self deprecating, charming, a little bit nervous, and also an emotional train wreck, yet there's a warming heart underneath that draws people to him. Duplass is quickly becoming a personal favorite.
While there are moments when the film gets a bit too chatty for it's own good, and Shelton's crude camerawork can occasionally be a drag, Your Sister's Sister never ceases to be engaging. It's one of Shelton's great talents, to create characters you want to see succeed. They're so genuine you root for them to be happy, even when(or perhaps because of) they slip up and make mistakes.
