The Lost Daughter

I doubled up movies today. They have quite a bit in common: both are on Netflix, are based on books, feature the directorial debut of a noted actress and are up for Outstanding First Time Director at the Directors Guild Awards.

The Lost Daughter is Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut, based on the 2006 novel by Elena Ferrante. I think it has the DGA First Time Director Award in the bag, given its recent Golden Globe nomination. But is it worthy of the top Oscars?

I don't know.

We find renowned academic Leda Caruso (Olivia Colman) on holiday in Greece. She's not much of a people person. But Nina (Dakota Johnson) and her daughter, Elena (Athena Martin), get her attention. She gets in their good graces when Elena is lost and found. But for whatever reason, Leda decides to hold onto Elena's dolly.

Meanwhile, we see flashbacks of her unhappy family life. She (Jessie Buckley) and her husband Joe (Jack Farthing) had two daughters and academic careers. But Leda struggled under pressure and sought solace with another man. She finds herself wondering if she made the right life choices.

Its pacing is its biggest drawback. Present Leda's holiday is somewhat uneventful. She inadvertently shares a bed with a cicada, finds some rotten fruit and deals with some unpleasant people time. A few instances, such as dealing with hecklers in a movie theater, are the only instances I sympathized with Present Leda. Its pacing was such that I thought it was fifty minutes before the Elena Lost and Found episode. Upon rewatch, I realized it was a more reasonable thirty minutes. Present Leda drags out the plot by holding onto dolly. Why?

Past Leda is better. "I'm suffocating," she says, under the pressure of family life. A lot of it is from having too much responsibility hoisted on her. We can understand her frustrations with her kids' loudness. She gets some fun time with her kids, though. A few nice moments too, such as when she tends to one of the girls' cut fingers. While she does leave Joe for Prof. Hardy (Peter Sarsgaard), it only adds to Present Leda's mounting issues.

Nina is a fine contrast to Present Leda. She has a happyish family life despite having an affair. She tells Present Leda that her husband won't take it well if he finds out. Her exact words are sure to shock you - just as it did me and Present Leda. The Grand Theft Dolly taxes her patience exponentially. It's made clear when she and Present Leda finally fall out. We sympathize with Nina's frustrations even if we don't agree with her method. 

This is a film that punishes waning attention spans. The Lost Daughter is sure to test them with its slow 121-minute plot and its double narrative. If anything, the flashbacks do a good job explaining its main character's unhappiness. That's no excuse for stealing the kid's doll, but even she recognizes her own flaws in the end. It's enough for one to not wish too much ill on her. It's ready on Netflix if you want to see what the awards hype is all about. I'm ambivalent on it. I don't know if you will be.