The Lost Daughter (2021)
(Netflix Streaming, July 2022) Slow-moving psychological dramas aren’t my style, and The Lost Daughter tested me. The first film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal (working from a novel) is about motherhood but not the kind of stereotypical motherhood held up as ideal. No, in this case we follow the summertime adventures of an accomplished academic as she experiences the lifestyle of the Greek island she’s visiting, and flashes back to her own progressively unhappy experiences as a young woman. Olivia Coleman stars and features a typically finely honed performance, alongside such notables as Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, and Peter Sarsgaard. From a certain viewpoint, The Lost Daughter is a successful film: it’s generally well directed, offers a strong showcase for its actors and delves into unconventional topics that are not seldom tackled. But the same film excels in a very specific niche that may not appeal widely: it’s slow-moving, and showcases a rather unlikable protagonist while remaining uninterested in any kind of moral condemnation or celebration. Much of the action being an internal character study, it’s not a film made for suspense or action. And then there’s the Hollywood-dynasty pedigree of its writer-director. In other words—you can see exactly how the film would appeal to critics and the Academy and understand why it ended up with a very long list of accolades—including three Oscar nominations. That doesn’t make it a crowd-pleaser, though: The Lost Daughter’s glum, unsentimental, naturalistic style takes patience and a specific kind of mood to appreciate.
