Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, brings us an ambitious, if uneven, final product; and possible Oscar nominations for the cast.
The Plot – The Lost Daughter
Sometimes you just need some peace and quiet. Leda is one of those people.
On the beach, by herself, with the tranquil sounds of gentle waves lapping at the shore; Leda, played by Olivia Colman, can finally relax. That is until the Americans show up. Loud, presumptive, and of course, with kids in tow.
Leda’s hoping for some R&R at a Seaside Greek Resort, but the screaming kids and arguing couples quickly put an end to that. Leda spots Nina, played by Dakota Johnson, dealing with a fussy young daughter and douchebag husband.
Leda stares at Nina and her child repeatedly, for extended periods of time, over several days. She flashes back to raising her own daughters when she was Nina’s age, and the toll that took on her career and identity as a person.
The Americans
One of the American women approaches Leda and rather expectantly assumes that Leda should move for the benefit of her own family. Callie, 42 and pregnant, quickly grows annoyed when Leda stands her ground.
Callie, played by Dagmara Dominczyk, eventually apologizes with some birthday cake and a few compliments. But, her forced smile disappears after Leda describes raising children as ‘a crushing responsibility’, and walks away.
The Good – The Lost Daughter
Olivia Colman
Olivia Colman’s performance as present day, or the ‘older’ Leda, is comlex and creepy.
Leda seems to relish her solitude and seems annoyed by the presence of other people on her vacation; yet she can’t keep her eyes off of Nina and her young daughter. Gawking, leering, staring, anyway you label it; Leda takes more than a passing glance at Nina.
Leda’s platonic attraction to Nina takes her back to her own experiences as a mother of young daughters, and the weight of that commitment.
What many today might simply call ‘overwhelm’, Leda’s largely blank expression dominates much of the film. A sort of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder washes over her as present day drama flashes her back to yesterday’s trauma.
After Nina’s daughter Elena goes missing; Leda recalls losing her own daughter Bianca at the beach, as well. While Leda plays ‘hero’ and finds Elena, she also steals Elena’s doll.
Nina, played by Dakota Johnson, thanks her for the rescue. The object of all of Leda’s stares finally meets the woman who’s been looking at her from afar.
The Age Gaps
Interestingly, Olivia Colman’s Leda also seems open to a wide-ranging age difference in the romance department.
Leda openly flirts with Will, a beachside porter, played by 25 year old Paul Mescal, and openly receives flirts from Lyle, the property manager, played by 71 year old Ed Harris. Clearly single, the 48 year old Leda seems quite open minded to those much older and younger in her search for male companionship.
The Bad – The Lost Daughter
The Reactions
Director Maggie Gyllenhaal makes a fascinating stylistic choice to show Leda’s reactions to the action, rather than action itself.
We see not-so-much Leda’s point of view, but extreme closeups and zoomed in shots from far away. The audience itself seems to be staring at Leda as Leda stares at the scene. A voyeuristic audience observing the voyeuristic main character.
The doubling of the voyeurism successfully adds to the creepy factor, but feels like it applies all of the time, rather than just when Leda wants to be left alone or is feeling alienated.
We even see it when Leda is enjoying her Dinner date with Will. She laughs and clearly enjoys the romantic attention of a much younger man, but the handheld shooting style with the zoomed in shots is still present.
While I can see where Maggie Gyllenhaal was trying to go with this approach; she should have either gone much more, or much less into this style. The middle of the road result ends up luke warm, which makes one want to spit out the watered down final product.
The Review – The Lost Daughter
This Dramatic Thriller, Creepy Suspense film takes a raw, unapologetic look at Motherhood, and the many sacrifices women make to raise the next generation.
Strong performances by Olivia Colman as Leda, and Jessie Buckley as Young Leda in flashbacks, drill home exactly how much moms have to give up.
While there is only a 15 year age gap between Colman and Buckley in real life, they play it as 20 years. Colman’s short, unstyled hair, wrinkled, ill fitting clothing, and makeup free face; combine to show just how much motherhood has taken from Leda.
We see how the wear and tear of being a mom can take a toll in a relatively short amount of time.
Dakota Johnson’s performance as Nina shows off a much more subtle, yet equally impactful view on Motherhood. Outwardly beautiful, with a handsome husband and pretty daughter; Nina’s quiet, fraying-at-the-edges demeanor is still seen by Leda.
We mostly see Nina through Leda’s eyes from afar, but we can still see her struggles even with the outwardly picture perfect family.
However, while all this fascinating commentary is being shown, we spend far too much time dealing with a stolen doll. Yes, the doll provides a focal point for Leda’s emotional overwhelm; but the amount of time spent on the doll subplot draws focus from her character development as a whole.
Also, it defies an internal logical consistency for her character. If we are supposed to be seeing a time in Leda’s life where she can finally focus on her own selfish pursuits; why would she bother to search for a missing girl, only to steal the girl’s doll?
This, combined with an oddly Quinten Tarantino-style opening scene that differs wildly from the rest of the film; The Lost Daughter lacks clarity and consistency. The resulting film makes for a somewhat muddled Freshman Directorial effort from Gyllenhaal.
Worth watching if catching up on Oscar contenders, but otherwise, skip it.
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The Lost Daughter represents Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut starring Olivia Colman in this Creepy Drama about Motherhood.
