In the majority of her scenes in The Lost Daughter, Olivia Colman holds the screen alone, without another actor to work against. Not that she needs one. As has already been proven in the likes of The Favourite and The Crown, Colman can register a tumultuous inner life without any words at all, but simply by flicking her eyes, letting slip a hesitant smile, or setting her chin a certain way. She does all of that and more as Leda, a middle-aged literature professor alone on a waterfront vacation. When a raucous extended family invades her beach, she watches carefully from afar before gradually becoming embroiled in their dynamic, particularly connecting with an overwhelmed young mother (Dakota Johnson). Writing and directing her first feature, which she adapted from an Elena Ferrante novel, Maggie Gyllenhaal employs an intensely intimate camera, one that’s so tight on Colman’s face that at times her features are a blur. When characters embrace—in affection or anger—we feel like we’re squished between them, especially in flashbacks depicting Leda’s own struggles as a young mother of two (Jessie Buckley plays Leda in these scenes). It’s an appropriate tactic for a movie that bravely, honestly acknowledges that motherhood can sometimes feel like an open wound—something inflicted, even scarring.
(12/9/2021)
