Starring: Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Mark Duplass
If a guy and a girl are best friends for a long period of time, chances are that they're going to fall in love some time down the road if they haven't done so already. It's been proven time and time again in life. It's even been proven on the big screen. From When Harry Met Sally... to Zack and Miri Make a Porno, there are tons of examples on film. The latest movie about best friends falling in love is Lynn Shelton's Your Sister's Sister. This is no typical movie though. Some serious stuff goes down in this flick, and things get weird.
Iris (Emily Blunt) and Jack (Mark Duplass) have been best friends for a long time. With the untimely passing of Jack's brother and Iris' ex-boyfriend Tom one year ago, Jack, Iris, and a number of Tom's friends get together to commemorate the late Tom's life. When Jack spins out of control and disgraces his brother's legacy in an impromptu speech, Iris intervenes and sends Jack to her family's cabin to have some time alone to pull himself together. When he arrives, he finds that he won't be alone. Iris's sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt) happens to be staying in the cabin as well.
Like Jack, Hannah's come to the cabin to pull herself back together. She's ended a seven year relationship with her girlfriend Pam. As the two down shots of tequila together in the wee hours of the night, things quickly get weird. Soon, Jack is rolling around in bed with his best friend's sister, who happens to be a lesbian. Things get even weirder when Iris unexpectedly arrives at the cabin the next morning. As it becomes more apparent that Jack and Iris have feelings for one another, Jack and Hannah decide to hide the fact that they've had sex. That secret is too big to remain hidden forever though.
Watching Your Sister's Sister is like watching a train wreck. You can see exactly what's going to happen, and it's not going to be pretty. Nonetheless, the way this plays out in the movie is absolutely captivating, and you'll be glued to the screen. Iris is going to find out that Hannah slept with Jack, the man she loves. The situation is even weirder than it seems given that Iris is Tom's ex-boyfriend. In a nutshell, Iris has slept with Jack's brother, and Jack has slept with Iris's sister. That's a rather unique foundation for a relationship. The fact that Hannah is manipulative and crazy just puts icing on the cake. The issues between these two best friends make any potential relationship absolutely disastrous.
The cast does a great job. Mark Duplass is hilarious throughout the film. Rosemarie DeWitt is the resident nutcase on set given that her character is a lesbian who sleeps with guys and pokes holes in condoms. Emily Blunt is the romance queen and once again delivers another great performance in a love movie. Despite their enjoyable performances, the most impressive thing about Your Sister's Sister is Lynn Shelton's direction. She can nimbly take these actors from a fun, hilarious scene to a tense, engrossing one in an instant. She recognizes the talent she has on her hands and leverages it in the best ways possible.
Your Sister's Sister is undeniably funny and unmistakably poignant. I only have one issue with the film. The ending is too abrupt and ambiguous. Though we all can make our own assumptions about what the smiles on the trio's faces indicate, we shouldn't have to do so. Shelton doesn't have to end the movie the way she does. Your Sister's Sister gets a strong 0.03% rating. While Jack and Hannah are downing shots of tequila, I would only recommend a few wine coolers with this one.
