By George & Josh Bate
How does one discern the truth when there are just two witnesses? Does effectiveness and persuasion of storytelling prove more important than objective truth, if this is even a thing? These questions lie at the center of Someone’s Daughter, a slow-burn psychological thriller and intimate character study of a man accused of sexual assault and the lawyer who defended him.
From director and co-writer Wiebke Von Carolsfeld, Someone’s Daughter takes place over a decade since Sam (Pascale Bussières) successfully defended her client Paul (François Arnaud) against rape accusations. Years later, the victim’s father kidnaps both Sam and Paul and leaves them stranded in the Canadian wilderness in an attempt to find justice for his daughter’s mistreatment. As Sam and Paul try to find a way out of the woods, their perceptions of one another and of their actions years ago shift.
Making its world premiere at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival, Someone’s Daughter starts in jolting fashion with disorientation, a kidnapping, and a shocking act of violence that collectively lay the groundwork for the proceeding film. From there, Carolsfeld employs deliberately calculated pacing to create a film that steadily creeps under your skin.
In reading the premise of the film, one could easily assume that Someone’s Daughter is a wilderness survival thriller with a #MeToo edge. Think Backcountry, Jungle, The Grey, or numerous other movies that find characters battling the elements as they try to withstand the brutalities of nature. Carolsfeld subverts expectations in this regard by crafting a film that operates far more as an intimate character study than breakneck survival thriller. All things considered, Sam and Paul don’t really struggle for food, manage to avoid scary animals, and are treated to unremarkable weather, leaving the threat and tension in the film to come from within.
Carolsfeld exercises incredible restraint in not leaning too heavily into tropes of survival thrillers. Much of the film is not characterized by massive interpersonal clashes or arguments, but, rather, quiet, almost imperceptible tension. Some of this tension comes in the form of sexual tension, especially as Paul makes it clear early on that he had a crush on Sam years ago when she was defending him.
Other tension, however, comes from the juxtaposition between Paul’s charming and exceedingly helpful demeanor and the crime that he was accused of years ago. Bussières excels in bringing the audience along with her as her character Sam undergoes subtle shifts in her perception of Paul. All of these shifts feel natural and believable due to the authenticity Bussières brings to the film. Never do her actions or words feel unearned or unrealistic, a testament to the grounding force that Bussières is for the film.
Arnaud similarly triumphs with a performance that keeps the audience guessing throughout the film. Paul’s behavior for much of the film is so endearing and supportive that it is difficult to reconcile how this could be the same man who committed a sexual assault years prior. Arnaud does well to make Paul a likable character, yet one who the audience is made to feel uncertain about.
The slow burn nature of Someone’s Daughter eventually escalates in a more fast paced and intense final act. The film opts against ambiguity in its messaging, which may deprive it of thematic and narrative nuance, although this decision ensures that there is a certain resoluteness to the story. Perhaps the movie would have proven more thought-provoking had it converged on a less concrete ending, but Carolsfeld should be commended nonetheless for creating a conversation starter of a film that keeps you guessing until the dramatic climax.
VERDICT: 7/10
Making its world premiere at Fantasia 2026, Someone’s Daughter is a slow-burn psychological thriller and intimate character study bound to creep under your skin and spark all manner of fascinating conversations. In reading the premise, one could easily assume that Wiebke Von Carolsfeld’s film is a wilderness survival thriller with a #MeToo edge, although the German filmmaker subverts expectations by exercising incredible restraint throughout. Rather than lean into tropes of survival thrillers, Carolsfeld lets her film breathe and offers the audience a front row seat to an intriguing back-and-forth between a man accused of sexual assault and the lawyer who defended him. Pascale Bussières excels in bringing the audience along with her as her character Sam undergoes subtle, yet completely natural and believable shifts in her perception of her counterpart, while François Arnaud deftly balances charm and a quiet, almost imperceptible dread with a nuanced performance. An intense climax may resolve matters a tad too concretely and deprive one of much interpretation, but the film ultimately triumphs with the journey it takes its character and, in turn, audience, on.
