BLU-RAY REVIEW — “3 Generations”

3 Generations is written by Nikole Beckwith and Gaby Dellel and is also directed by Gaby Dellel. It stars Elle Fanning, Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon, Tate Donovan and Sam Trammell and tells the story of three generations of a family living under one roof in New York as they must deal with the life-changing transformation by one that ultimately affects them all. Ray (Elle Fanning) is a teenager who knows he’s a boy, even though he was assigned female at birth. Ray has already been living as a boy for years but is now ready to start hormone replacement therapy. His single mother, Maggie (Naomi Watts), must track down Ray’s biological father (Tate Donovan) to get his legal consent to allow Ray’s transition. Dolly (Susan Sarandon), Ray’s lesbian grandmother is having a hard time accepting that she now has a grandson. They must each confront their own identities and learn to embrace change and their strength as a family in order to ultimately find acceptance and understanding.

3 Generations has a fascinating premise and a fantastic cast. While the director and screenwriter have nothing too impressive under their belts, I found myself very intrigued and was actually looking forward to checking it out. Now, while it initially released in 2015, it finally found itself in a Blu-Ray release and I got a chance to get my hands on it. So what did I think? Eh. 3 Generation is a mixed bag that ultimately doesn’t work out. With characters showing as much potential as they did, the film didn’t really explore them as much as they should have. And while Susan Sarandon, Naomi Watts, and Elle Fanning are giving it the old college try here, they can’t act their way out of the box they’re placed in. It’s unique and original viewpoint could have placed this alongside movies like Dope or even Moonlight, it’s wasted on themes and story lines we’ve seen too many times before.

Now, why 3 Generations has finally found a Blu-Ray release I do not know, but since it has I have to review it. Visually, the picture quality is clear, crisp, and what’d you’d expect from a standard Blu-Ray. The cinematography is fairly basic, it’s not even very notable. You’re obviously not watching The Revenant or Sicario, but everything looks fine and is on par. The Blu-Ray comes with a slipcover which I always appreciate and a VOD code is included. The Blu-Ray isn’t exceptional in any way and unless you’re dying to see this film (I don’t know why you would be) I don’t see any reason to rush out to get this one. The Blu-Ray doesn’t feature anything the DVD release doesn’t have, besides the picture quality upgrade, so if you wanted to pick this up, the DVD would be fine.

3 Generations is colorful. It fits in the quirky indie category and is obviously trying to. The 1080p UHD 16×9 Widescreen 1:85:1 presentation is obviously better than the lower DVD presentation, but the lack of anything else making it different from the DVD release doesn’t make the Blu-Ray option too necessary. Unless you’re a fan of this type of film, or really want to see this, I don’t think it’s a needed addition to your collection. It’s just not a very remarkable item. Sure, the 3 leads give fine performances, but nothing else makes it very memorable.

Included, the only special features are some deleted and extended scenes, all of which are featured on the DVD release of it. I don’t see myself re-watching or even remembering 3 Generations and I don’t think any of you will either. Now if this gets a 4K release, that’ll be a different story,

 3 Generations is now available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and Digital.