Running Time: 96 Minutes
Starring: Pascale Bussières, François Arnaud, Peter Outerbridge, Michael Greyeyes
The latest feature from director Wiebke von Carolsfeld, Someone's Daughter opens in the backseat of a car being driven. Inside, criminal defence lawyer Sam (Pascale Bussières) wakes up through a hazy, drugged state to discover the situation. Over a decade earlier, she was successful in defending her client Paul (François Arnaud) against rape accusations. In the wake of his daughter's suicide, the victim's father has kidnapped both the lawyer and his daughter's alleged assaulter, stranding them on an island within the Canadian wilderness. To survive the situation, the pair must work together to make their way towards civilisation.
"We're all someone's daughter, we're all someone's son." Those lyrics from John Farnham's catchy power ballad, You're The Voice, gets to the heart about the need for empathy and understanding. This is a key part of the film, as Sam has persevered in her role by not making actual judgements. She explains how she decides which cases to take on by looking for the stories which seem too perfect, an arbitrary decision that gives herself the excuse to connect with a potential attacker, and subsequently tear apart a potential sexual assault victim in court.
The circumstances leave Sam in close proximity with Paul, whose mentions of being on the swim team bring to mind Brock Turner, who was convicted of sexual assault. It is all part of a fascinating story idea where Sam is confronted with her inaction, now face-to-face with the potential dangers instead of looking at it from the outside. But that potential is never truly realised by von Carolsfeld and co-screenwriter Doug Taylor, as the story is not really about the justice system, or questioning how it often lets down victims of sexual assault. The way the story unfolds, this feels like an elongated set-up for a dragged-out story of wilderness survival.
Credit is deserved to the performers, who do well in bringing alive their characters despite the material not being meaty enough. The set-up offers potential for the criminal lawyer to be constantly on edge, as she is left alone with somebody whose innocence she doubts, but the story instead feels like a bog-standard tale of two strangers learning to trust each other. There are no red flags to showcase unease or increasing tension from the situation, it just stays at a certain level until rapidly rising for obligatory third-act purposes. By then, it is too late for this to make an impact, and just leaves Someone's Daughter to feel like a let down from its potential.
Someone's Daughter made its World Premiere at Fantasia Festival 2026
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