The Lost Daughter – 8

A taut psychological thriller that played out, almost entirely, on Olivia Colman’s face, photographed in intense close-up the whole way. The setting and characters were wonderfully reminiscent of the other Elena Ferrante books I’d read, a surprising achievement for a first-time American director. Jessie Buckley was just as good as the young Leda, but I had trouble connecting the two characters–the physical dissimilarity didn’t help–and I almost felt I was watching two different films. The young Leda’s struggle with motherhood was convincing; but I could never figure out Colman/Leda’s deal with the doll. Did one story explain the other? If not, why not? Still, it was good to see a film that made you think and made you tense with anticipation, even though, like much of life, it ended in anticlimax.