20s Movie Review - The Lost Daughter

Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ed Harris

Description: A women’s (Olivia Colman) beach vacation takes a dark turn when she begins to confront the troubles of her past.

Review: At the last minute of 2021, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal comes to Netflix with her directorial debut “The Lost Daughter”. An intelligent film about motherhood and responsibilities. It’s a remarkably nuanced film whose provocative message will stay with you for days to come.
Leda is enjoying some time off on a Greek island. While on the beach, she is relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet. Her oasis of calm changes when an American family, with screaming children, noisily takes over the beach.
When she meets a young woman called Nina and her daughter Elena, it brings back painful, unprocessed memories for Leda. Memories of Leda’s own time as a mother of two young daughters, Bianca and Martha. In flashbacks sprinkled throughout the film, we see a young Leda combining her work and studies with motherhood and demanding relationship. And those worlds collide more often than not.
Olivia Colman once again puts in a masterful actin performance. But Jessie Buckley’s portrayal of the younger version of Leda also deserves high praise. Seamlessly, the two seem like the same person with a twenty year age difference.  
The title “The Lost Daughter” suggest that a child disappears and the film becomes a quest to find the girl. This is true, but it’s only a small part of the film. The incident is a clever diversion for the film’s real protagonists: atypical mothers. Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut does not unfold as a mystery detective thriller at all. “The Lost Daughter” is a character study of women struggling with motherhood and the expectations and responsibilities that come with it. Women who must choose for themselves. As selfish as that may seem, it is far from incomprehensible.
Leda is also, to a certain extent, not a sympathetic character at all. Not everyone is made for motherhood, and children can be an oppressive responsibility. Leda describes herself throughout the film as an unnatural mother. Her façade of difference and self-reliance makes Leda a complex character whose unpredictable behavior keeps her constantly intrigued. In young mother Nina, with her always crying daughter, she finds recognition. A recognition she has hidden away to avoid having to face her life decisions.
“The Lost Daughter” is a unique film because the self-evident maternal instinct is turned on it head. The film is somewhat uncomfortable to watch, because Leda is such a complex character and she is very clear about her boundaries, and the situations she is put in (or often puts herself in) can be very uncomfortable to witness. For her directorial debut, Maggie Gyllenhaal has passed with flying colors. It’s a very interesting watch.  

Rating: 4/ 5