The Eternal Daughter

'The Eternal Daughter' is listed as a mystery drama. The only mystery I had an hour into the film was what exactly the point of me watching it was supposed to be. The film has no plot. It has no intrigue. It has no purpose to exist. This was a very disappointing experience.

Short of Tilda Swinton (in dual roles) being her usual watchable self it was pretty hard to find redeeming qualities in this film. It's is extremely slow - which is always going to be the case when we are effectively just watching a woman's uneventful stay at a hotel.

Thankfully this one is reasonably short, but I can tell you those 96 minutes will draaag. A generous 4/10.

Honestly. If anyone says "Oh Darling!" one more time! Tilda Swinton is "Julie", a film-maker with a bit of writer's block who takes her elderly mother (I think she is called "Rosamund" but anyway, think Tilda Swinton but this time in a bit of latex and some of Margaret Thatcher's attire) to a remote country hotel. It turns out that this used to be a family home for her mother and she spent much of her younger life there with her aunt. From room to room they reminisce about what it used to be, what went on here - all whilst the wind outside blows as if we were watching "Black Narcissus" (1947). What happens now? Well, very little... There is lots of desperately polite and earnest dialogue - beetroot or feta? - as the two women edge ever closer to a birthday that is clearly tinged with increasingly sad, but unspecified, memories. The denouement - well it's a surprise to nobody, not even the frequently scene-stealing "Louis" (Swinton's own dog). Carly-Sophia Davies is quite effective as the downright disinterested hotel receptionist but that's about all we have to inject any life into this rather charmless and disappointing "ghost" story that really does underwhelm. Joanna Hogg definitely has a safe zone for her films. Well-heeled English folks in the media industry with even more well-heeled parents who all live in a world with little to do with any reality most of us will ever be able to relate to. A repetitive flute refrain does all that it can to introduce some mystery, but by half way through I was just "You are very welcome"'d out. It will look just as good on the television as it does on cinema screen so I'd save your cash, if I were you.

Normally I like most of the movies Tilda Swinton starred in, not all, but most of them.

"The Eternal Daughter" could have been something more than what it is if perhaps more suspense had been added, maybe a few more characters. It could have been a great "Ghost Story", but probably the director did not want this from the film she created. The scenery and the entire "environment" from the hotel would have permitted that.

The film wants to emphasize the mother-daughter relationship and the mark that some people leave on our lives, even after they pass away.

However, I was disappointed by the somewhat slow pace in which the story was conceived.

I am shocked to see the negativity in so many of these reviews - personally, the movie blew me away and I thought it was quite fabulous.

It is an understated story portraying entirely one woman's psychological and emotional state at a particular point in her life. All of the scenery, the direction, the pace, the objects, the marvellous cinematography perfectly came together as a crystallized whole. The entire atmosphere of the movie can be thought of as an externalization of the protagonist's mind, her character traits, and her feeling of 'lowkey' entrapment.

There's not much by way of a plot, and there's not a second where the movie speeds up - it moves at its own languid, disquieting pace from start to finish. Much is left unsaid, unexplained - there is little solid structure to latch onto, so the only way to watch this movie is to surrender to Swinton's terrific + intelligent performance and let the scenes speak for themselves.

(Oh, and I thought the 'twist' was brilliant - it really elevated the entire movie for me.)

This is not a horror or a mystery movie. This is a drama disguised as a drama/horror mystery. And that's why it fails.

Swinton is amazing as always. It's unreal how convincing she is playing both the mother and the daughter. I mean, i was moved by "their" relationship, these were adorable characters. I really felt their feelings for "each other" and that is kinda insane because the viewer forgets that they are the same person. Hence the 5 stars.

However, this is not a good movie. I didn't mind the slow pace, but this movie has the most unnecessary twist of all time. Unnecessary, illogical and, dare i say, conniving. Because there are some scenes that contradict this particular twist, during this movie. Most of the people see it coming from the beginning of the movie, but then, the director convince the viewer that they got it wrong. And in the end, the thing that most of the people suspected, happened. Without any logical or paranormal explanation. Thus, as a viewer i feel cheated and i can't rate it higher.

This would be a much better movie as an art drama. No twists, no surprises. Just a mother and a daughter, their relationship and their feelings. I would enjoy this movie. You have Tilda Swinton in your movie, you don't need twists and turns. Go full drama, realistic as it gets. Psychological drama-mystery horror is another genre, much more complicated than it seems.