The Lost Daughter

Maggie Gyllenhaal is a better actress than she is a director. It’s nice that she has plenty of friends in Hollywood who were willing to join her feature debut, but from a filmmaking standpoint, this was pretty underwhelming. If it weren’t for the strong performances, I might have mistaken this for a standard Sunday afternoon TV drama. (02.03.2022)

High-quality actors make this film watchable, but it is still far from engrossing. The character study of the protagonist is entertaining in the first half, but the viewer’s interest wanes after the initial hints of what’s tormenting her. It’s impossible to sympathize with her or to even feel sorry for her. The supporting motifs with the supporting characters also tread lightly and don’t add much to the film dramaturgically – that’s especially true of Ed Harris’s character, but not only him. (29.01.2022)