A woman is being brought somewhere against her will. Soon she realizes it’s an island and a former client she defended in a case is also there. As their kidnapper left them there to possibly die, they team up to try and find a way out. Soon, truths about both of them come out.
Written by Doug Taylor and Wiebke von Carolsfeld and directed by the latter, Someone’s Daughter takes two people with likely guilty conscience and puts them in a difficult situation. The strain of survival and trying to get home attempts to end them in many ways. The writing here is careful and calculated, only giving bits and pieces of information at a time, letting the characters bond within their situation, and then throwing more arrowing elements at them to force them into a new direction. The direction takes a more subtle approach to the story, giving it a more subdued style and giving the characters all the room to connect, evolve, and show different sides of humanity.
The cast here is minimal with a total of 4 people involved, 2 leads and 2 more characters that get very little screentime but a big impact. Peter Outerbridge opens the film as what looks to be a kidnapper. He gives one of those performances that is filled with emotions, all of them justifiably negative. Closing the film is Michael Greyeyes as Kent, a solid few minutes performance that feels familiar but necessary here. The leads and the two who get the most screen time are Pascale Bussières as Sam, an attorney who the first character sees as responsible for something horrific, and François Arnaud as Paul, her former client who she may have misjudged. These two give stunning performances, most of the time as two people trying to survive something together while having a past together. Bussières shows that her decades-long career isn’t a fluke, the woman is ultra talented and has been showing so since the 1980s. She’s the solid one here, the central one, and she doesn’t let go of the attention from start to finish. Arnaud, who has been active since 2007 and who most folks will recognize from Heated Rivalry, holds his own, showing a strong grasp of what the character needs and how to bring it to the screen. The two of them make for a pair that is easy to watch while not giving too much away. Their performances are subtle when needed and a bit more in-your-face at times. 
The cinematography by Léna Mill-Reuillard is stunning here, showing the land perfectly, taking advantage of the expanse of land Canada has to offer, showing the greenery, the water, the emptiness of it all when it comes to human life. The location is stunning in and of itself, but the cinematography work shows it perfectly. The editing by Marie-Pier Dupuis is subtle and allows the story to breathe and develop, giving the writing and cast the room they need to work just right.
Someone’s Daughter is a solid piece of story and acting in a (mainly) two-character story that is character and dialog driven even when the action keeps moving within the territory where they were dropped off to die. Along with the writing and direction, they make the film with sheer strength of performance.
Fantasia 2026 runs from July 16th to August 2nd, 2026