Maggie Gyllenhaal is one of those actors you knew would become a director someday. Her parents are both filmmakers, and of course, her brother Jake is one of the top actors in the world and will probably become a director, too. Her directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, has been earning rave reviews since debuting at Venice, and more recently this past weekend at the Middleburg Film Festival.
Based on the book by Italian novelist Elena Ferrante, The Lost Daughter stars Oscar winner Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Gyllenhaal’s husband Peter Sarsgaard, and Ed Harris. It tells the story of a vacationing woman who becomes obsessed with a mother and her daughter, who evoke memories terrifying memories of her own motherhood.
Gyllenhaal not only directed but wrote the screenplay. Based on the footage seen here, she made the right choice in hiring Never Rarely Sometimes Always cinematographer Hélène Louvart who has a talent for making the simple look beautiful.
The Lost Daughter opens in select theaters on December 17th, followed by Netflix exclusively on December 31st.
Alone on a seaside vacation, Leda becomes consumed with a young mother and daughter as she watches them on the beach. Unnerved by their compelling relationship, (and their raucous and menacing extended family), Leda is overwhelmed by her own memories of the terror, confusion, and intensity of early motherhood. An impulsive act shocks Leda into the strange and ominous world of her own mind, where she is forced to face the unconventional choices she made as a young mother and their consequences.
