The Big Picture

The dramatized sequences in
Four Daughters
enhance the story rather than cheapen it.
The conversations between the film’s subjects and actors are fascinating and authentic.
While Olfa’s life is fully explored, more time could have been given to Eya and Tayssir’s perspectives.

This review is based on a screening at the Palm Springs Film Festival.

Four Daughters is quite possibly one of the riskiest documentaries you’ll ever see. Director Kauother Ben Hania attempts something that so many other documentaries consistently struggle with: recreating nonfictional events through dramatized sequences. Nine times out of ten, these sequences are the bane of even the most well-constructed films. Instead of trusting their audience to listen to first-hand accounts of their subjects, these dramatized recreations typically come across as cheap, pandering, and wholly unnecessary in the documentaries they appear in. Creating dramatized sequences is even more difficult for a film like Four Daughters, which tackles a wide variety of complex topics.

At the center of these topics are Tunisian mother Olfa Hamrouni and her four daughters, the two youngest of whom, Eya Chikhaoui and Tayssir Chikhaoui, live with her. The oldest two, Rhama Chikhaoui and Ghofrane Chikhaoui, vanished long before the documentary was developed. To tell the family’s story, Kauother Ban Hania attempts to blend first-hand accounts and interviews of Olfa, Eya, and Tayssir with dramatic scenes adapted from those stories. In those sequences, Eya and Tayssir play themselves, Rhama and Ghofrane are played by Nour Karoui and Ichrak Matar respectively, and Majd Mastoura plays all the men in their lives. As for Olfa, Four Daughters alternates between Olfa herself and actress Hind Sabri for the dramatized portions.

Four Daughters Between light and darkness stands Olfa, a Tunisian woman and the mother of four daughters. One day, her two older daughters disappear. Filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania invites professional actresses to fill in their absence.Release Date July 5, 2023 Director Kaouther Ben Hania Runtime 107 minutes Main Genre Documentary Writers Kaouther Ben Hania

Most documentaries that include dramatizations make it very clear that they’re entirely separate from the nonfictional elements (making their inclusion all the more perplexing). Four Daughters is unique in interweaving nonfiction and fiction to offer a perspective that supports, quantifies, and sometimes even challenges the family’s tale. The result is a bold and sensational documentary that seamlessly blends reality and adaptation, successfully crafting a story of grief and trauma that is as profound as it is heartbreaking.

‘Four Daughters’ Uses Actors in a Way That’s More Than a Storytelling Gimmick

Kauother Ben Hania takes a minimally invasive approach to showcasing the family’s story in Four Daughters. She gives Olfa, Eya, and Tayssir complete freedom to tell their individual truths. Surprisingly enough, though, Kauother Ben Hania provides ample screen time for the actors portraying Olfa, Rhama, and Ghofrane. Where they could have easily been used as props in a more literal and linear fashion, they each have a meaningful dialogue with the documentary’s subjects. Olfa, Eya, and Tayssir essentially get the opportunity to direct the actors portraying their loved ones. Their genuine conversations about Rhama and Ghofrane, in particular, give the actors vital context for their scenes. It’s also a fascinating and unique way to communicate the narrative of Four Daughters to its audience without being overly blunt.

It’s fitting that the most noticeable case of this is with Olfa and Hind, as Olfa feels like the subject in Four Daughters who gets the most attention. According to Kauother Ben Hania, Hind Sabri was brought in to play Olfa in select scenes because some of the life moments being reenacted might be too upsetting to relive. Kauother captures Olfa’s reaction to this creative decision right after comparing herself to Rose (Kate Winslet) from Titanic, and her response appears to be that of disappointment. Despite the apparent facial expression, Olfa forms an almost immediate bond with the woman portraying her in some of the more intense sequences. What makes this relationship between Olfa and Hind work is how different they are from each other. Olfa is primarily portrayed as having much more traditional values, with her disapproval of her daughters’ rebellious natures being a critical turning point in their estrangement. Hind Sabri is depicted as having more worldly liberal values, as she directly confronts Olfa about her outdated treatment of her daughters and women in general at various points in the documentary.

The complexity of Olfa’s character makes it hardly surprising that the family matriarch would be the focus of Four Daughters. That said, it’s somewhat unfortunate that the perspectives of her two youngest daughters, Eya and Tayssir, don’t feel as represented. It’s a shame because the comparatively limited screen time that Eya and Tayssir do have in Four Daughters isn’t wasted, as they each paint an entirely different picture of their upbringing, family lifestyle, and relationship with their elder sisters compared to what their mother alleges. A perfect example of these varying perspectives is when Olfa joyfully remembers her boyfriend, but Eya and Tayssir have a far less flattering memory of the father figure. The reveal ends up being so distressing for the actor playing the boyfriend that he walks away from the scene entirely, presumably finding it too upsetting to continue filming. If that’s not an indication of how emotionally compelling this hybrid style of documentary storytelling is, we don’t know what is.

‘Four Daughters’ is a Tragedy Born Out of Familial and Cultural Strife
Image via Kino Lober

Considering the trauma that all the women in the family have experienced, it’s remarkable that the three family members are still so closely connected. They were and are continuing to have longstanding instances of family strife and generational tension, yet despite their apparent differences, they still manage to have a friendly relationship with one another. Kauother Ben Hania doesn’t condemn or condone this, but one thing is abundantly clear: those smiles still can’t hide the tragic circumstances surrounding Four Daughters.

The closer Four Daughters comes to its conclusion, the more it becomes apparent that the family can’t and sadly may never escape the cultural differences within their family and community. Those familiar with the family’s story (which received international attention in 2016) will know that the ending of their tale is not a happy one. This conclusion is practically guaranteed to leave a mark and not because it ends in the way some are perhaps expecting.

In short, Four Daughters should not work nearly as well as it does. Where most documentaries are brought down by a reliance on dramatized fictional sequences, Kauother Ben Hania utilizes them in a way that elevates the film more than anything. It’s a wholly unique approach to documentary filmmaking. Four Daughters is easily one of the best documentary films of recent memory and is a brilliant storytelling innovation in the genre itself.

Four Daughters ‘Four Daughters’ is a refreshing approach to documentary filmmaking that boldly combines fiction and non-fiction.ProsThe dramatized sequences add more context to the family’s story instead of romanticizing it.Fascinating and authentic conversations between the film’s subjects and its actors.Olfa Hamrouni’s life feels fully explored… Cons…but more time could have been given to Eya and Tayssir’s perspectives.

Four Daughters is available to rent on VOD in the U.S.

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