Angela Patton

In Daughters (2024), four girls speak about the fathers they miss as they prepare for a father-daughter dance in prison. Angela Patton and co-director Natalie Rae give those conversations time, resisting the urge to turn every admission into guidance for the adults watching. We were moved by the girls’ candour, because their affection makes it so clear how much separation hurts. This is a thoughtful documentary we recommend, with a reservation about its reluctance to question the programme behind the meeting.

Daughters is Patton’s first feature as co-director, made after she developed the Date With Dad programme that it follows. Rae approached her after seeing her speak about the programme, and the two collaborated for eight years. That history helps explain the film’s sustained access to the girls’ daily lives and the fathers’ preparation inside the jail. Any judgement of Patton as a director has to start with that partnership, rather than crediting her alone for the film’s patience.

Working with cinematographer Michael 'Cambio' Fernandez, Rae and Patton use patient observation to keep young Black girls’ experiences at the centre of the film. The dance gives the story a destination, but the months of preparation are where the directors earn our trust. They allow the children to talk without forcing their feelings into a tidy account of what fathers ought to provide. Those conversations are uncomfortable because the children care so much about a meeting whose terms they cannot decide.

The weakness is that the programme receives less searching attention than the people taking part. Patton’s involvement makes scrutiny especially important, and we wanted Rae and Patton to press harder on what the dance can reasonably promise the girls. That does not undo the value of listening to children who are allowed to be more than evidence for an adult’s good intentions. See Daughters for what those girls say, while keeping a few questions about the adults’ programme in reserve.