The Lost Daughter
Adapted from Elena Ferrante ’s novel of the same name , The befuddled Daughteris surprisingly disconcerting , take to be viewed through sharp middle . In her feature directorial debut , Maggie Gyllenhaal ( who also publish the screenplay ) ooze out confidence in her storytelling power , dextrously handle the cinema ’s superimposed plot and character . The Lost Daughterexplores motherhood and the conflicted , complex emotion that are forget and show up for the adult female in the role . Nuanced , serious-minded , and deeply effective , Gyllenhaal ’s moving picture is assuredly executed , elate by a strong , striking operation by Olivia Colman .
The story follows Leda ( Colman ) , an English professor and lit translating program on holiday in a small Greek beach town . A mother of two girl , Bianca and Martha , Leda is enjoying quiet time while she works , but it is n’t long before her peace is break up by a large , loud family from Queens who are vacationing at their family abode . Leda ’s eyes are immediately drawn to Nina ( Dakota Johnson ) , a young female parent who struggles to keep her girl calm , happy , and busy . After see a engagement between Nina and her controlling husband Toni ( Oliver Jackson - Cohen ) , Leda helps the family find Nina ’s daughter , triggering memories from Leda ’s time as a young mother ( Jessie Buckley ) decades prior . The plot thickens when it ’s let out the doll Nina ’s daughter ca n’t dwell without was learn by Leda .
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The Lost Daughterworks because it ’s observational — no matter how the tensions rise the longer Leda has the doll and no matter how many more detail are given about Leda ’s preceding actions as a mother , Gyllenhaal ’s aim is n’t to judge . How to feel about everything that unfold is up to the hearing to decide , which makes the dramatic event all the more riveting and moderately morally ambiguous . There is no rightfield or damage here , only what is and isn’t . The Lost Daughterasks its audience to think outside the box , to examine their own diagonal and expectations about mothers and how they should or should n’t behave . This becomes specially obvious in the way Gyllenhaal keep Leda ’s married man ( Jack Farthing ) in the periphery of the story . He ’s there , but not , with much of the pressure and obligations of parenting being mutely forced upon Leda while he elude opinion all .
Gyllenhaal has a firm appreciation on the account , meshing the past times and face seamlessly to provide more context about Leda without losing muckle of the story or turning toward unearned sentimentality . The Lost Daughternever consecrate itself an easy out , wad into the waters of hard the true about Leda , let in her complicated feelings of guilt and rancour — crucially , her sense of exemption and relief when shedding sure responsibilities . Leda , like all women , is complex . She ’s lose and selfish , majestic of her work , frustrated , loving , wild , and just downright messy . Her role as a female parent does n’t make her a apotheosis , but it does lessen the agreement she has of herself and heightens the multifaceted spirit she has about her animation . Leda pick up herself in Nina and perhaps also hopes she is someone who might translate that which she has never put into words before .
In this way , The Lost Daughteris deeply sound , a slow - burn that slowly unravels , revealing young detail that change one ’s opinion of Leda the longer the film goes on . And yet , Leda remains a character worthy of sympathy despite everything , which is the ultimate triumph of the film and which Gyllenhaal beautifully captures . The film is also unexpected . When it seems like the story will go in one counselling ( or reveal a bit of information about Leda ’s state of mind ) , it pivots in surprising turns that never finger contrived . Leda is a tragic figure , and though some may see her as an antagonist in her own story , being forced to reckon with her past tense through Nina ’s relationship with her own daughter makes the reading of her action deeply layered and worth examining . Gyllenhaal ’s photographic camera mill around on every detail , every facial expression that deepens the story further .
The mesmerizing ( and , yes , often redoubtable ) element of the film are uplift by fantastic performance from the cast . Olivia Colman is , as always , phenomenal as Leda . Her consistency language position Leda as a pretty awkward , guarded , and firm individual who say so much with her eyes . Between show Leda ’s dizzy spells as an emotional prolongation of her mindset and standing up for herself against Dagmara Dominczyk ’s Callie , Toni ’s aunt , Colman has huge range in the role . Jessie Buckley is fabulous as the younger Leda , elevating emotionally heavy mo that bleed over into Colman ’s own portrayal of the graphic symbol . While Dakota Johnson get far less to do , her purpose is essential to the event of the film and the actress riddle Nina with a sense of loss , her eyes plead for someone to understand and sympathize , which is understandably why her camaraderie with Leda is so apt .
The Lost Daughteris a deconstruction of maternity and what becomes of the women whose identities become folded into such a role , whether they can ever be free of it , and how society will look down on anyone who deviates from what ’s expected of them as a maternal figure . Gyllenhaal like an expert handles these themes , leaving a strong depression as a first - clip director . Leda clingstone to the doll , a symbol of generational expectation of motherhood fall down to little girl . And while she might not infer the reasons for why she does , The Lost Daughterpaints an unforgettable , intricate , and nuanced portrayal of Leda , one that is so perfectly human and a true fiber field that resonates emotionally .
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Dakota Johnson in The Lost Daughter
The Lost Daughterreleased in prime theater on December 17 and will well out on Netflix begin December 31 . It ’s 121 moment long and is grade R for intimate cognitive content / nudity and language .
This review was originally published on October 19 in congruousness with the 2021 Middleburg Film Festival .
The Lost Daughter is star Maggie Gyllenhaal ’s directorial debut and star Olivia Colman and Dakota Johnson . The 2021 Drama is based on the novel The Lost girl by Elena Ferrante . The story see to it a new mother struggling to associate with her daughters .
Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter
