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The Lost Daughter says a lot with very little. It never spells itself out but is still rich with symbols, motifs, and messages. The story covers many themes related to motherhood: the loss of individuality, the unfair expectations to instinctively welcome it, and the psychological toll it can take. Meanwhile, The Lost Daughter is powered by its vivid acting. Colman, Johnson, and Buckley all bring true vulnerability and complexity to their performances, creating an experience that is both painfully intimate and completely natural. Colman, in particular, conveys impressive internal conflict with minute expressions and posturing.
Furthermore, The Lost Daughter possesses excellent filmmaking from first-time director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Visually, there are many POVs and close-ups, which is very personal. The editing blends the past into the present like a dream. The sound is encompassing and often mixes multiple moments into one. Plus, the music is minimal but reoccurs at key points to emphasize their significance. Overall, it's a potent combination of techniques that unite into a journey so intimate, it feels like a stolen memory. Thanks to Gyllenhaal's focused direction, Colman's raw performance, and the honest script, The Lost Daughter is a triumph.
Writing: 9/10
Direction: 9/10
Cinematography: 9/10
Acting: 10/10
Editing: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Score/Soundtrack: 8/10
Production Design: 7/10
Casting: 7/10
Effects: 7/10
Overall Score: 8.4/10
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Good god, Netflix does it again, a truly amazing drama that hits hard. The Lost Daughter is a phenomenal film that has now earned itself three Oscar nominations; Olivia Colman for Best Lead Actress, Jessie Buckley for Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. I genuinely think it deserves all three of those. Colman and Buckley are just amazing here as they show the sacrifices of motherhood and the guilt of not achieving the unachievable dream of motherhood. I haven’t read the book but I’ve watched a video and it sounds like it is adapted really well. I’m lost as to why this wasn’t best picture nominated? It has everything the Academy wants, I just don’t get it, this film was beautiful on every level. You have to be willing to sit with it, it is quite slow. But it was far more interesting and much shorter than Power of the Dog, I don’t get why that is the big movie of the year. Maggie Gyllenhaal expertly crafts this story of a woman who just wants to get away and is constantly reminded of her past and hounded by people in the present. The way scenes are edited together between the present, the past, and glimpses of the final scene is handled so well. Dakota Johnson is also really good here, if you’ve only seen her in the 50 Shades series you have got to watch her other stuff, she’s a great actress. Ed Harris’s character is interesting to me, his inclusion confuses me because I think the story could be the same without him. Peter Sarsgaard, Paul Mescal, Jack Farthing, Oliver Jackson Cohen, and Dagmara Dominczyk are also good in this with their few scenes but they each help unfold the story in a great way. We never really know what choices we make will affect children or what we say or do to them will have big consequences. This movie raises some great questions about if wanting to pursue your aspirations makes you a bad mom, even if dreaming about not having them and liking it is a bad thing to do. I’m giving The Lost Daughter a 10/10, and I will be hunting down a copy of the book to read. We put so much on our Mom’s and give them nothing in return, motherhood looks so exhausting especially when we continually believe in a dream set up decades ago. -Tyler.
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