As a scion of two filmmakers, it’s a bit surprising that actress Maggie Gyllenhaal hasn’t turned to film direction sooner. The star of “The Kindergarten Teacher” and HBO‘s “The Deuce” makes her directorial debut with “The Lost Daughter.” The film made its debut at the Venice Film Festival to rave reviews in September.
Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Elena Ferrante, “The Lost Daughter” stars Oscar Best Actress-winner Olivia Colman as a woman who becomes increasingly obsessed with a young mother and daughter while on vacation.
Here’s the film’s official synopsis:
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.
The film also stars Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, and Gyllenhaal’s husband, Peter Sarsgaard. Dagmara Dominczyk, Paul Mescal, Jack Farthing, Robyn Elwell, Ellie Blake, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen are also on board. Alba Rohrwacher, Panos Koronis, Alexandros Mylonas, and Nikos Poursanidis round out the main cast.
Several of Ferrante’s novels have had film adaptations, but Gyllenhaal’s comes with the novelist’s blessing. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Gyllenhaal discusses taking a month to craft a letter to Ferrante to ask to adapt “Daughter.” Ferrante acquiesced, but on one condition: that Gyllenhaal must direct the movie and no one else.
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“The Lost Daughter” releases in select theaters on December 17 and streams exclusively on Netflix on December 31.