Daughters

Documentaries centred on a group of prisoners often focus on aspects of their prison experience or the events that led them to become imprisoned in the first place. Rarely do these films shift their focus outside of the barbed wire walls to the people who have been left behind. For the group of inmates in this film, this is their young daughters. Severely limited visitation and contact means that these men don’t have a relationship with their children, but thanks to the Date With Dad programme (created by Angela Patton, who co-directs alongside music video director Natalie Rae) these fathers have an opportunity to build a connection with their children by participating in a formal dance with them in the institutions they’re incarcerated in. The result is a thoroughly moving documentary that depicts a heartfelt portrayal of fatherhood.

Spending equal time with the fathers as they talk about their fears and hopes during a ten-week-long coaching session they must complete before the dance and the youngsters at home who just want their dads back, the filmmakers show how the situation affects each relative in intimate detail as the day of the big event draws close. The journey for everyone (including viewers) to get to the dance is so emotionally raw that there are constant tears flowing during the pivotal dance, with the interactions between the youngest participant and her father being some of the most wholesome and heartbreaking moments in the entire feature.

Although the men are behind bars, the filmmakers refuse to divulge any of the details about the crimes they committed to get where they are. In addition to sidestepping any problems that would come from sensationalising them and shifting the focus from the father-daughter story, this move ensures that they’re seen less as criminals and more as people who are just trying to be the best parents they can be.

Moreover, whereas the safest move would have been to end this documentary on a high, following the dance, this is only the halfway point. As magical a moment as the dance was, it alone can’t magically fix everything, as the prisoners face the race of their sentences while their daughters continue to grow up without them. Although this final stretch lacks the same focus as what proceeded it, the humanity behind each real-life relationship is as touching as ever.

Andrew Murray

Daughters is released on Netflix on 14^th August 2024.

Watch the trailer for Daughters here: