‘The Eternal Daughter’ Review: The Haunting of Memories In Joanna Hogg's New Gothic Horror
*This review contains spoilers*
Does one ever honestly know who their parents are, inside and out? At the same time, do parents really know their children? Must they guard one another against reality to protect the bond that runs as deep as flesh and blood? These are some of the questions that British filmmaker Joanna Hogg asks of audiences with her latest film, The Eternal Daughter. A reserved work that toes the line of gothic horror (notably Hogg's first exploration into genre filmmaking), The Eternal Daughter delves deep into the connection between a mother and her - you guessed it - daughter. Once again, teaming up with Tilda Swinton, Hogg collaborates with her leading lady and lifelong friend to excavate their deep and intricate relationships with their mothers, who have passed away in recent years.
Since 2019, Hogg has experienced a prolific stretch in her filmmaking career, churning out The Souvenir, The Souvenir Part II, and now The Eternal Daughter. For audiences unfamiliar with Hogg's oeuvre, the writer/director is known for her tastefully restrained sensibilities, often focusing on grounded narratives based on reexamining her own life experiences. The Eternal Daughter fits perfectly into Hogg's body of work, which the director created during the waning days of her mother's life and who passed away while the film was in post-production. Hogg's attraction to creating works involving her personal history, in combination with her gifted style, make for incredibly moving pieces of filmmaking that keep critics heralding her work as she gains more notoriety in the landscape of world cinema.
The Eternal Daughter stars Tilda Swinton impressively in both of the movie's central performances as a middle-aged English filmmaker, Julie, and her upper-crust aging mother, Rosalind. The film begins with the women arriving at a remote country home-turned-hotel in the Welsh countryside for a quiet holiday intended to celebrate Rosalind's upcoming birthday. Still, Julie also hopes to work on a new filmmaking project, which centers around her mother's life - unbeknownst to Rosalind. As seemingly the only guests in the mysterious manor, Julie and Rosalind wish to relax into their vacation; however, the two women quickly become internally haunted by memories from their pasts, both good and bad. As time seems to collapse in the unsettling hotel, Julie and Rosalind's past, present, and future seem to melt together to construct a memorable and exquisite viewing venture that will leave audiences considering their connections with loved ones.
With Hogg's substantial point-of-view alone, The Eternal Daughter would have been an entirely different work without the close collaboration between the director and her star, Swinton. As Hogg and Swinton have mentioned in much of the press for the film, the two women met during primary school over fifty years ago, creating an intimate creative relationship that few actors and directors have shared in the history of cinema. In addition, both Hogg and Swinton know the pain of losing their mothers, perspectives that shine through as The Eternal Daughter makes its way to its startling final moments. Well-known for performing multiple roles in the same film (Okja, Suspiria), Swinton beautifully executes the same feat in The Eternal Daughter, channeling nuanced and fully-realized versions of Julie and Rosalind's characters while maintaining their deep mother-daughter bond. Always choosing roles that show off her chameleonic talents, Swinton delivers two more subtle and hypnotizing performances that contribute tremendously to the best parts of The Eternal Daughter.
Courtesy of A24.
As earlier mentioned, The Eternal Daughter is Hogg's first foray into genre filmmaking. While Hogg may be expressing a profoundly personal experience through her narrative, the film's below-the-line elements push it successfully into the gothic horror genre. The Welsh country manor where the movie is shot ties it deeply to the genre, with the mysterious creaking of the old home and its labyrinthic hallways contributing to the eeriness of the space, having intense effects on the central characters of the film. Cinematographer Ed Rutherford utilizes minimal lighting setups and the mysterious fog surrounding the estate, paying close attention to how developing a visual atmosphere can build a sense of dread and secrecy to transmit gothic horror qualities. Finally, The Eternal Daughter's sparse, repetitive score of wind instruments interestingly adds an aspect of strange familiarity that conveys an unease that immerses audiences in the film's enigmatic sensibilities. While The Eternal Daughter works so beautifully in Hogg's semi-autobiographical body of work of recent years, the movie serves as an exceptional exploration into genre filmmaking for the director.
In many ways, The Eternal Daughter delves deeply into the universal experience when we realize our parents will not be around forever. This horrific "coming of age" moment lends itself powerfully to the gothic genre. Hogg uses this in her latest film to deliver a quietly robust work that will leave audiences haunted, even after viewing the film multiple times. While Hogg's work may not be for mainstream tastes, The Eternal Daughter is a palatable entry point to her astute sensibilities, opening viewers up to her remarkable career. For Hogg fans like myself, the surprise twist comes when The Eternal Daughter finally states the names of its central characters, shockingly connecting the movie to The Souvenir Parts 1 and 2 in a marvelously daring manner. Hogg possesses a tremendous talent for sharing her background through her writing without falling into the traps of oversentimentality, a nearly impossible feat with the intimate material of The Eternal Daughter. Sincerely informed by the haunting memories experienced by all, The Eternal Daughter is one of the most touching films of 2022.
The Eternal Daughter is now showing in select U.S. theaters and is also available to stream.