''Your Sister's Sister'' is a 2011 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by

Lynn Shelton Lynn Shelton (August 27, 1965 – May 15, 2020) was an American filmmaker, known for writing, directing, and producing such films as '' Humpday'' and '' Your Sister's Sister''. She was associated with the mumblecore genre. Early life Shelton was ...

and starring

Emily Blunt Emily Olivia Laura Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Emily Blunt, several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition t ...

Rosemarie DeWitt Rosemarie Braddock DeWitt (born October 26, 1971) is an American actress. DeWitt played Emily Lehman in the Fox television series '' Standoff'' (2006–07), co-starring with her future husband Ron Livingston, as well as Charmaine Craine on '' U ...

, and

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996, for which they wrote and directed ''The ...

. The film premiered on September 11, 2011, at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

, and was released in the United States on June 15, 2012.

Plot

Jack is struggling emotionally a year after the death of his brother. His friend (and his brother's ex-girlfriend) Iris offers to let him stay at her father's isolated island cabin, to restore his spirits. Upon arrival, he finds Iris's sister Hannah, a lesbian who has recently broken up with her partner and is staying at the cabin without Iris's knowledge. They talk and drink together, and end up sleeping together, using Hannah's condom. Iris arrives at the cabin unexpectedly the next morning, and Jack suggests that he and Hannah shouldn't tell her they slept together. Iris later tells her sister that she's fallen in love with Jack. The next day, Iris mentions that Hannah wants to have a baby. Jack examines the used condom, and finds Hannah had poked holes in it. Hannah confesses to Iris she slept with Jack. Iris confronts Jack about it, and Jack accuses Hannah of stealing his sperm. Hannah admits it, but says she would never have slept with Jack if she had known Iris was in love with him. Jack is stunned to hear Iris loves him, and Iris is stunned that Hannah told him. Later that night, Jack talks to Iris and apologizes. He reveals to Iris that he was only with Hannah because he can't be with her, which breaks Iris's heart because they could have avoided it all if only they had confessed their feelings towards each other sooner. Both Jack and Iris break down crying, and Jack leaves. Over the next day or so, the sisters gradually reconcile, with Iris offering to help Hannah to raise the child should she give birth. Eventually, Jack returns to the cabin and requites Iris's love, also offering to help Hannah to take care of her possible baby. The trio return to the city, and the final scene has Hannah taking a home pregnancy test with Iris and Jack joining her to see the result, which is not revealed.

Cast

as Iris *

as Hannah *

as Jack *

Mike Birbiglia Mike Birbiglia (; born June 20, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, director, producer and Emmy-nominated writer. He has written and performed a series of award-winning solo shows worldwide. His six solo shows, ''Sleepwalk With Me'', ''My Gi ...

as Al * Jeanette Maus as Tom's friend

Production

The film was shot in 12 days on

Fidalgo Island Fidalgo Island is an island in Skagit County, Washington, located about north of Seattle. To the east, it is separated from the mainland by the Swinomish Channel, and from Whidbey Island to the south by Deception Pass. The island is named afte ...

and in the

San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

state.

Rachel Weisz Rachel Hannah Weisz (; born 7 March 1970) is an English actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Rachel Weisz, several awards, including an Academy Award, ...

was originally cast to play the character of Hannah, but had to drop out three days before the shoot.

was cast the day before the shoot began. The actors partly improvised their dialogue.

Reception

''Your Sister's Sister'' has an approval score of 85% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on reviews from 143 critics, with an average rating of 7.00/10. The consensus reads, "Superbly acted and satisfyingly engaging, ''Your Sister's Sister'' subverts rom-com conventions with sensitive direction, an unconventional screenplay, and a big heart." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

the film has a score of 72 out of 100 based on reviews from 29 critics.

Remake

A French remake entitled ' (''Et Ta Sœur'' in French speaking markets) premiered in 2014. The film was written and directed by

Marion Vernoux Marion Vernoux (; born 29 June 1966) is a French director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Vernoux was the only daughter of a casting director and of a set decorator. After several experiences as a produc ...

and stars

Virginie Efira Virginie Efira (born 5 May 1977) is a Belgian and French actress. She had her first leading role in '' It Boy'' (2013). Efira subsequently received praise for '' In Bed with Victoria'' (2016), for which she received a Magritte Award for Best Act ...

, and

Géraldine Nakache Géraldine Nakache (born 16 February 1980) is a French actress, director and screenwriter. Life and career Nakache grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. She earned a DEUG diploma in cinema. She worked as assistant casting director in ''Groland ...

as Marie, Pierrick and Tessa, the respective analogues of Iris, Jack and Hannah. It is the second Lynn Shelton film to be remade in France after ''

Humpday ''Humpday'' is a 2009 American mumblecore comedy-drama film directed, produced, and written by Lynn Shelton and starring Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, and Alycia Delmore. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. International distribution ...

'' three years earlier.

References

External links

* {{Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast 2011 comedy-drama films 2011 films 2011 LGBTQ-related films American comedy-drama films American independent films Lesbian-related films Films directed by Lynn Shelton Films shot in Washington (state) LGBTQ-related comedy-drama films 2011 independent films Films about sisters 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language comedy-drama films American LGBTQ-related films English-language independent films LGBTQ-related independent films