Written and directed by Joanna Hogg, returning to a hotel now haunted by its mysterious past, an artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets in their former family home. Starring: Tilda Swinton, August Joshi, Carly-Sophia Davies and Joseph Mydell.
There are some films that do such a phenomenal job of creating an intriguing, curious and unusual atmosphere, that it doesn’t matter how much or how little is happening because you’re effortlessly drawn in by it. Joanna Hogg achieves that with The Eternal Daughter, there’s this compelling complexity and anxiety constantly lingering in the air. It’s almost as if it’s constantly walking on eggshells, yet it’s never clear what it’s truly trying to avoid. In that sense, it’s terribly British in its over politeness and eschewing taking the lead or making the choice.
It sets itself up in this beautifully gothic setting which holds all kinds of haunting and surreal potential. Then it’s topped by a fantastic Hitchockian score which pushes the atmosphere even further. It quickly builds a lot of tension and mystery, especially when the aesthetic has a very classic quality, somehow both nostalgic and timeless. If that weren’t impressive enough, Hogg’s writing also has a Lanthimos-esque sense of humour, playing with the dark, tense and awkward, with a nice dose of snarky.
All of which is then brought together by the incomparable Tilda Swinton, she always has something new to bring to the table. It’s remarkably impressive after having starred in films for almost forty years at this point. Very little needs to actually be said about this performance because it’s exactly what you’d expect from an actress who is the ultimate chameleon, she can transform into any role and it will always be spectacular to watch. While the majority of the spotlight does fall on Swinton, Carly-Sophia Davies and Joseph Mydell should not be forgotten. Mydell has a surprising and welcome warmth, where as Davies’ anti-customer service performance is so much fun to watch.
The Eternal Daughter is surprisingly enthralling, mysterious and led by another stunning performance from Tilda Swinton. It beautifully embraces the gothic, isolated and fog-bound setting to create something almost slightly removed from reality. There are touches of both classic and modern cinema, it’s familiar yet unusual and while it may not quite smoothly blend together its ending, it’s captivating and very British.
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