My quick rating – 5.2/10. Being the daughter of a notorious serial killer can’t be easy. Being the daughter who actually arrested him must make family gatherings a little awkward. Welcome to The Daughters of the Domino, an indie mystery thriller where family baggage, missing relatives and a copycat killer come together for what turns out to be a reasonably entertaining, if occasionally ridiculous, reunion.
Detective Nina Rose (Miranda Moffat), or Nine-A as she’s apparently known, became something of a celebrity after bringing her serial-killer father, The Domino, to justice. Unfortunately, fame doesn’t fix broken family relationships, and her relationship with sister Laura (Lucie Gillespie) has remained in the dumpster. Years later, a new killer appears to be following in Dad’s footsteps, while Laura’s daughter Jules (Ashley Poulin) goes missing. Naturally, this is the perfect opportunity for the sisters to put their differences aside and revisit some deeply buried family secrets. Nothing brings relatives together quite like murder.
We kick things off with some ominous music and Nina inspecting what she identifies as her father’s burnt remains. A wonderfully cheerful opening. Really. Then, in a rather abrupt change of mood, she’s dancing around her apartment to Spence Hood – The Bloodhound of the Blue Heron. I guess surviving a serial-killer father comes with an eclectic morning playlist.
Jules’ birthday provides an opportunity for Aunt Nina to hand out show tickets, and the conversations between Jules and her friend Frankie (Asia Hicks) are refreshingly natural. They actually sound like teenagers talking to each other rather than actors desperately trying to convince us they’re teenagers. Unfortunately, the celebrations are interrupted by another apparent Domino-inspired murder. Nina gets called to the scene, while the girls decide the show must go on. Their evening doesn’t exactly end as planned, though, and neither does their journey home.
The underlying mystery is actually quite well constructed, with the family connections providing plenty of material to work with. The police response, however, requires a fairly generous suspension of disbelief. Let’s just say some of the procedures and decisions aren’t going to win any awards for realism. The investigation also wraps up a little too quickly, and the eventual twist isn’t particularly difficult to spot. Still, it’s competently put together and manages to keep things interesting.
Director Jesse McAnally deserves credit for making this look considerably more polished than its indie credentials might suggest. The cinematography is crisp, the shots are nicely composed, and the editing keeps everything moving. The cast also does a decent job selling the material, although Chief Keaton (Grover McCants) never quite clicked. Whether that’s down to the performance or the writing, his scenes just don’t land quite as well as the others.
There’s also a nice little touch of uncertainty towards the end that gives the story one last reason to keep you thinking.
Overall, The Daughters of the Domino is an average indie mystery with a decent story and a likeable cast. There is enough family dysfunction to keep a therapist employed for years. The resolution could have been more fleshed out, but I still found it worthwhile. It felt more like the pilot episode of a television series than a standalone movie, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the intention. There’s certainly room for more Nine-A and her complicated family tree. Just keep Dad out of the next family reunion.
Thanks to Richard over at Fosca Features for sending this one over. If you’d like to be notified when streaming links are available, enter your email below:
