Daddio (2024) Review: Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn Star in Absorbing Two-Hander

Daddio is about two people talking to each other and it takes place in a single setting throughout the movie. A two-hander like this can make or break a movie since it relies heavily on the actors to pull it off. The movie stars Dakota Johnson — a role originally meant for Daisy Ridley when the project was first announced in 2017.

She plays a young woman who sports a platinum-blonde bob walking out from JFK airport with luggage in her hand. We never get to learn her name other than being credited as “Girlie”. She immediately boards a taxi heading to Midtown Manhattan. As the journey begins, the middle-aged driver Clark (Sean Penn) starts talking to her. Upon hearing his voice, I’m not sure why I imagine Mel Gibson would be a good replacement if Sean Penn was not available at the time of filming Daddio.

So, Clark’s conversation begins with him debating about using cash, credit cards and apps. He talks about how he wishes to call himself by another name and asks her where she comes from and what she does for a living. From here, we get to learn more about Girlie bit by bit. She’s a programmer hailed from “the armpit” of Oklahoma and between her conversation with Clark, something is bothering her or at least making her contemplate about the text messages on her phone coming from her anonymous lover simply listed as “L”. It doesn’t take long before the text messages turn explicit with all the dirty talks. Then comes the car accident, causing the traffic to a complete standstill. It’s going to be a long night to reach her destination but with the chatty Clark, it helps to kill time as they keep talking.

Christy Hall, who adapted It Ends with Us, made her directorial debut in addition to writing her own screenplay. The movie is heavy on dialogue and the conversation between Girlie and Clark covers just about anything no matter whether they are casual, intimate or even deeply personal. I admit it requires a certain suspension of disbelief to have two complete strangers, particularly Johnson’s Girlie spilling her guts. Is this how it works these days when comes to having a conversation with a taxi driver or ride-hailing driver? Small talks are still plausible but in Hall’s world, Daddio looks like a confession/therapy session.

And yet, the movie surprisingly works, thanks to the strong chemistry between Johnson and Penn. With Johnson sitting in the backseat and Penn’s driving the cab, their conversation is mostly restricted with them looking at each other through the rearview mirror. But the way they bring out different topics complements well with their varied tones and facial expressions.

The movie may have taken place primarily within the confines of a taxi but Phedon Papamichael’s atmospheric nighttime cinematography with the clever use of lights, shadows as well as the overall interior and the background helps a lot in not making its single setting too stagey and visually rigid. Hall knows how to make her dialogue sing and more so with Johnson and Penn carrying their respective roles well enough to keep me invested throughout its 100-minute length.

But I particularly wanted to single out Dakota Johnson for delivering one of her best performances to date, proving she’s an ideal replacement after Ridley was no longer attached to the project. And most importantly, she bounces back from that atrocious Madame Web, one of the worst movies of 2024 shown earlier this year. Daddio tends to stretch a little too long in some parts but overall, it was an absorbing two-hander that brings out the best in Johnson and Penn’s acting performances.

Daddio is currently streaming on Netflix.