TMS Movie Review: The Lost Daughter [test]
(Netflix)
By now, Olivia Colman is among the ranks of Meryl Streep and Frances McDormand as a female thespian who can seemingly be placed in any story or genre on screen, and almost unanimously be met with acclaim. In fact, Colman’s lead role in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, almost feels like the darker sequel for Streep’s character in her first Oscar winning effort of Robert Benton’s Kramer vs. Kramer (1979). Colman won her own Oscar just three years ago for Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite (2018), and now she’s nominated Best Actress again for her new film.
While on vacation on a luxurious Greek island, Leda (Colman) is in her late 40s and feeling the weight of the bad choices she made in her 20s-30s. This latent guilt increases when she is introduced to a big, extended family also visiting the same resort, including young mother Nina (Dakota Johnson) and her three-year-old daughter Elena (Athena Martin). Nina and Elena remind Leda of her own past marriage and motherhood, and she becomes quickly fixated and familiar with the pair. During all this, we get regular flashbacks to Leda two decades earlier played by Jessie Buckley.
(Netflix)
Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Paul Mescal, Dagmara Domińczyk, Ed Harris and Gyllenhaal’s real-life husband Peter Sarsgaard make up the cast of familiar faces. The Lost Daughter is based on Elena Ferrante’s 2006 Italian novel of the same name, and shows Gyllenhaal has potential to keep working behind the camera if she likes. No doubt the actress probably felt comfortable writing and directing her own film after growing up with a screenwriter—Naomi Foner—and a film director—Stephen Gyllenhaal—for parents. The exotic location also makes the story feels more unique and stand out visually. Colman delivers like usual, while Buckley (also Oscar nominated for her performance) and Johnson continue to prove they’re two of the most interesting actresses in their generation. It’s particularly interesting to see Johnson branch out and play a character a little trashier than she has in the past. The Lost Daughter doesn’t have the most likable characters, but it does put the spotlight on a topic that isn’t discussed much and has a fresh execution cinematically. If you want to have a movie night at home sometime soon, The Lost Daughter would be an interesting contender.