Daddio Review: A Touching Chamber Piece

Some movies feel like they were made for me. Writer/director Christy Hall makes a stunning debut with Daddio, a film about a woman who gets in a taxi from JFK airport to her home in Midtown Manhattan. During the ride, she strikes up a conversation with her driver, leading to a deep connection as they talk about relationships, love, family, and all of the things that make people human. I love films like this, especially being a born and bred New Yorker; seeing a movie set entirely at night in this gorgeous city makes me happy.

Daddio is a touching, well-paced drama that isn’t quite as flawless as it could be, but is an exceptional piece of work from Hall. One of my favorite types of film is the chamber piece—the film that has very limited characters and locations. This is the type of movie you don’t see often, but it exists in films like 12 Angry Men, My Dinner with Andre, Mass, Ex Machina, and The Outfit. These movies don’t put their emphasis on flashy visuals or large set pieces. The key aspect driving everything forward is the dialogue and the performances.

If I were to compare Daddio to two movies from a stylistic perspective, I would say Locke (a Tom Hardy movie entirely set in a moving car) and Before Sunrise (a one-night drama with two characters). It contains the DNA of a lot of the ingredients that make a chamber piece work. We have two characters who are strangers to each other but learn a lot about each other over the course of one intimate evening. Dakota Johnson plays Girlie, the woman in the cab, while Sean Penn plays Clark, the cab driver.

The characters feel a certain comfortability with each other with the knowledge that they will never see each other again after the ride is over. This motivates them to be able to speak freely about their lives. The best aspect of this film is the fact that we’re in this one location with our two characters. It feels private like we’re getting a small glimpse into their worlds as they share one chance evening together. That is what makes Daddio so fascinating to watch. It plays with the idea that everyone you meet has years of stories that brought them to where they are in this encounter. Only by asking do we get a deeper glimpse into their lives.

Daddio mainly focuses on Girlie, who spends parts of the film receiving sexually explicit texts from someone on her phone. Clark notices her reaction to the texts, and they unpack a lot about her situation. He gives her advice, a lot of which is based on his own life. Through learning about Clark, we learn that he is a very flawed person who has done many things that can be frowned upon. Neither of these two are perfect people, and you spend a lot of time learning about the mistakes they have made and the humans behind every poor decision they’ve made.

Johnson is fantastic in this movie. Some audience members may be turned off from her at the moment, given that one of her most recent roles was this year’s Madame Web, where she phones in a dreadful performance. But the difference between Johnson when she’s trying and Johnson when she’s not trying is night and day. As a matter of fact, she showed up at my screening for a Q&A after the movie was over. She talked about how she connected with Hall’s screenplay a lot, which contrasted with other experiences where she doesn’t resonate with the material and feels like she must show up and read the lines. Upon spotting a sneering fan in the front row, she followed up with, “I know what you’re thinking: Madame Web.”

Penn is also giving one of his best movie performances in years. He has a tricky role here, needing to play a character that isn’t exactly a role model but has lived through years of experience. He says things that are not always the most progressive, but his kind heart pulls us toward him anyway. Another shining element here is the cinematography. Daddio is shot by Phedon Papamichael (Ford v Ferrari, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). To the naked eye, it doesn’t seem like much; you just put a camera in a cab and you film it. But no movie is that simple; the movie was shot on a soundstage with virtual screens and you would never be able to tell.

Ultimately, the writing in Daddio works better in some places than others. It goes from being very naturalistic to being so deep that only a writer could have reached these levels of thought. But it’s a movie where so much of the direction is based on getting these performances right, and Hall does a superb job of that. It’s a strong debut with wonderful work from the two leads.

SCORE: 7/10

As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.

Jonathan Sim

Jonathan Sim is a film critic and filmmaker born and raised in New York City. He has met/interviewed some of the leading figures in Hollywood, including Christopher Nolan, Zendaya, Liam Neeson, and Denis Villeneueve. He also works as a screenwriter, director, and producer on independent short films.