The Eternal Daughter

Kind of a brilliant idea to take a meditation about being haunted by memories and sensory associations and frame it in the trappings of an atmospheric ghost story. Joanna Hogg executes it beautifully and Tilda Swinton delivers two excellent and precise-as-ever performances.

“The Eternal Daughter” is a tender and haunting film that effectively explores the struggles of mother-daughter relationships and being haunted by the past. Tilda Swinton’s performance is captivating, and the atmosphere is chilling. While the resolution may feel predictable for some viewers, the emotional impact of the film lingers long after the credits roll.

The eternal meditative repressed contemplation of a "screenplayless" daughter.

Swinton in maybe her best role playing both sides of the same medal. She is preoccupied with fear of not-being the good daughter and is blind for her surroundings - a bully receptioniste or a creepy castle - or, even more sad: those are background modifications by her own narrative of a lonesome world. The context could have been different and it wouldn't have made any difference. I felt enigmatically played in that regard, making it a crafted achievement of show-dont-tell.

The Boston Herald has a review headline, "big on atmosphere, short on plot." Can't word it better, but I can add that I have less patience for these types of A24 slogs. Yes, Hogg does some interesting directing with some nice shots. It's meant to look dreary. The lifelessness mixed with one of the thinnest plots in any movie of note this year makes it drag. Can't care because there are no real characters or events. Shallow. No reason to invest. I'm supposed to care because it's "pretty."

spoopy scary swintons

Superbly acted by Tilda as both mom and daughter struggling with their relationship -- this is the case where the daughter is actually the caring mom, despite having no kids -- in a then family home, now eerie, haunted manor in the middle of nowhere. Don't care much about how it ends, despite enjoying parts of its gothic atmosphere -- it's effective, but also typical A24 post-horror borefest.

letting go

One could argue that quite literally nothing happens in this movie

A tour de force from Swinton, and the movie is good, but not as good as Hogg's previous films. There's something distracting about the mystery format, and in retrospect I felt that I wasn't paying attention to the right things.

Gothic atmosphere, creepy sounds, haunting soundtrack, cinematography and directing are great. It's also (always) fascinating to watch Tilda Swinton. But the story did not draw me in, I can even say that I was bored to death. One of the most disappointing movies of the year for me.