by John Zenoni
This is the time of year when I try to catch as many of the ‘Best of’ films/performances -- before the Oscar race officially begins -- that I can. One performance I've been hearing a lot of noise about recently is that of acclaimed actress Olivia Colman in ‘The Lost Daughter.’ I had heard great things about her in the past but have never seen her in anything until this film. Needless to say, I can see why people are giving her so many raves as she's outstanding in this! It's definitely a knock-out performance that I do believe will get her an Oscar nomination.
The film is basically 100% all Colman, as she plays a professor, Leda Caruso, who's on a getaway in Greece and the focus is on her thoughts of her past and her family, including her two daughters, in both current and flashback scenes. She pretty much has the resort to herself until a large Greek-American family settles in and takes over the beach. Leda focuses on a young mother, Nina (played by Dakota Johnson), and her daughter, who happens to go missing for a short period on the beach one afternoon. Leda finds the girl and she and Nina bond over the girl and Leda having raised daughters herself. When the little girl went missing, her doll disappeared, over which she has hysterics, and when Leda gets in her car one day while leaving the beach, the viewer sees that she has the doll stuffed in her bag! Why in the world would a grown woman do this?
Needless to say, the film definitely gives you anxiety while watching, as Leda is certainly not your ‘typical’ mother (based on the flashbacks shown, what she does to her own girls and by her own admission) and you can't wait to see what happens next. She's a brilliant woman but this story does not make apologies for Leda’s behavior as a formerly married wife and mother. In fact, I'm surprised that more debate hasn't been going on about this part of the film. Also, what an ending! This is one of those stories that leaves the finale open for interpretation, and honestly, those tend to drive me crazy. But in this case, I actually think it's in the favor of the film to do it this way.
Colman’s performance is definitely the main reason to watch the movie as it's very good, although not great, as there are some scenes that really drag out too long, in my opinion, and so some better editing could have been done. But this is definitely an impressive directorial debut for Maggie Gyllenhaal.
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