Fortyish Marta (Agata Kulesza) and Kasia (Gabriela Muskala) are sisters, Kasia the youngest. Marta is a soap opera actress, enough of a star to be asked for autographs and given advice about her TV persona by fans on the street. She has an adult daughter and she seems to keep her feelings for (and contact with) the family at a minimum. Kasia lives with their parents, is a primary school teacher and in a less than ideal but somewhat functioning relation with husband Grzegorz, father of her teenage son. The title of this movie translates sto My Cow Daughters; the term "cow" is sometimes used by Father (Marian Dziedziel) to address his daughters in an endearing/teasing way free from malice. Father is a successful, well to do architect, lives with Mother in a spacious comfortable house and enjoys an easygoing, warm, but conflictual relation with Marta and Kasia.
As the movie opens tragedy strikes: Mother's various illnesses coalesce and she needs to be hospitalized. This brings the sisters and Father together. For the rest of the film we witness the interaction of family members with each other in difficult circumstances, and it is here that the script by director Kinga Debska comes into its own. There are no superfluous or missing lines; without any outside explanation characters are sculpted with subtle strokes involving snatches of conversation, understated gestures or just images. Accompanying the titles at the end we watch old 8mm movies of the sisters in their infancy; these takes last a a couple of minutes but tell a story that connects with what we already know.
I was fascinated by this film from beginning to end. The loving/bickering interaction of the sisters and their father is uncannily true to life. We learn less about Mother except for a mysterious trip to Budapest with child Marta and its possible consequences. Debska (in her first outing as a director) put on screen her script with unfailing sense of timing and of balance, supported by excellent cinematography and first rate acting from all involved,
