Review of The Lost Daughter (2021) by Moviemitch96 — 02 Jan 2022

The always reliably brilliant Olivia Colman stars as a middle-aged mother on vacation in Greece who is troubled by haunting memories of her past incidents of motherhood with her own two daughters after meeting another young mother (Dakota Johnson) at the beach.

Marking the writing/directorial debut for Maggie Gyllenhaal, this is a slow-burn film, albeit a not particularly exciting or compelling one unfortunately. Fine performances are given from all involved, not least by Colman, who never disappoints.

Supporting players such as Johnson, Jessie Buckley, and Ed Harris also give worthwhile turns here, but they can't quite compensate for a general lack of spark or guidance in plot or direction. The film does something that's more often than not been a pet peeve of mine, which is it jumps back and forth between past and present through many flashback scenes.

The film also simply kind of ends without really resolving or telling us much of anything other than being a parent is hard I guess.