Sean Penn & Daughter Dylan Penn Pose At ‘Flag Day’ Screening

Sean Penn and his daughter, Dylan Penn, stepped out on the red carpet Wednesday for a special screening of his movie Flag Day at the Director’s Guild of America in Los Angeles. The two actors star together in the film, which depicts the tumultuous relationship between real-life father and daughter, John and Jennifer Vogel.

Dylan wore a striking metallic silver dress with a slicked-back ponytail while her father wore a blue bomber jacket, grey t-shirt and jeans. Later, the pair stood before the crowd with microphones and discussed the film’s creation. It seems to have been a family effort as Penn’s son, Hopper Jack Penn, also had a small role.

Flag Day first premiered for competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was met with mostly mediocre reviews from critics, garnering a rating of 35% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The R-rated thriller, meant to be Penn’s directorial comeback, is based on Vogel’s memoir, Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father’s Counterfeit Life, which details her childhood with her criminal father and the conflicted feelings she felt about him.

Penn’s movie attempts to depict John’s desperate attempts to fulfill the American dream as he buys up houses and businesses he can’t afford before either abandoning or torching them. His daughter, played by Dylan, struggles to reconcile her simultaneous love for her father and her disappointment at his failed attempts to redeem himself.

The title originates from John’s birthday on June 14th, a national holiday which commemorates the adoption of the U.S. flag in 1777.

Penn’s character is a man saturated in American idealism who felt that he was due something great from life.

In the conclusion of their review, The Hollywood Reporter called the film “neither terribly memorable nor moving.” It also said that it “settles into a repetitive pattern of upheaval, fresh starts and bitter disappointments, punctuated by so many bouts of screaming rage that pack little punch.”

One thing the movie does have, however, is a cast of talented actors, including Regina King, Josh Brolin, Norbert Leo Butz and Dale Dickey.