# The Lost Daughter (film)

The Lost Daughter is a 2021 psychological drama film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal (in her feature directorial debut), based on the 2006 novel by Elena Ferrante. The film stars Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Dagmara Domińczyk, Jack Farthing, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ed Harris. Colman also was an executive producer.
The Lost Daughter had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2021, where Gyllenhaal won the Golden Osella Award for Best Screenplay, and began a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 17, 2021, prior to streaming on December 31, 2021, by Netflix. The film was acclaimed by critics, and at the 94th Academy Awards received three nominations: Best Actress (Colman), Best Supporting Actress (Buckley), and Best Adapted Screenplay.

## Plot

While on holiday in Greece, middle-aged university professor and noted translator, Leda Caruso, meets Nina, a young mother, after Nina's three-year-old daughter Elena goes momentarily missing on the beach. Leda finds Elena and returns her to Nina, who expresses her growing exhaustion and unhappiness.
Elena is upset after she loses her favorite doll, which Leda has secretly taken. In flashbacks, it's shown that Leda also struggled with being a young mother to her two daughters, Bianca and Martha, often losing her patience and becoming withdrawn from her family.
One evening, Leda has dinner with Lyle, her holiday apartment's caretaker, who sees that she has the doll but doesn't comment on it, nor does he tell Nina. Leda later discovers Nina is having an affair with Will, who works at the beach bar, and Nina explains that her husband Toni is very controlling. The search for Elena's doll continues, with Nina even putting up flyers offering a reward for its return.
At a market, Leda buys Nina a hatpin to help hold her sunhat in place. When Nina asks Leda about her daughters, Leda becomes emotional; she reveals that she had abandoned them for three years after she became too overwhelmed, leaving them with her now ex-husband, during which time she had an affair with a fellow professor. She admits that being away from her daughters felt "amazing", and she only went back to them when she genuinely missed them. Nina learns that Leda knows about her and Will, and he later asks Leda if they can borrow her apartment to have sex.
The next day when Nina arrives at Leda's to get the apartment keys, Leda admits to being a selfish and "unnatural" mother and warns that Nina's depression will never go. She then gives Nina Elena's doll, confessing that she took it and that she was "just playing". Nina reacts angrily by stabbing Leda in the stomach with the hatpin before leaving. That night, Leda packs her bags and leaves the resort, but drives her car off the road due to her injuries; she soon collapses on the shoreline.
The next morning, Leda awakens and calls Bianca, who happens to be with Martha. They express their relief to hear from their mother, from whom they had not heard in several days. Leda says she is fine and then looks down to discover an orange in her hands; she peels the orange skin off "like a snake", the way she had done for her daughters when they were little.

## Cast

* Olivia Colman as Leda Caruso
** Jessie Buckley as young Leda
* Dakota Johnson as Nina
* Ed Harris as Lyle
* Dagmara Domińczyk as Callisto "Callie"
* Paul Mescal as Will
* Robyn Elwell as Bianca
** Ellie James as older Bianca (voice)
* Ellie Blake as Martha
** Isabelle Della-Porta as older Martha (voice)
* Peter Sarsgaard as Professor Hardy
* Jack Farthing as Joe
* Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Toni
* Athena Martin as Elena
* Panos Koronis as Vassili
* Alba Rohrwacher as Female Hiker
* Nikos Poursanidis as Male Hiker
* Alexandros Mylonas as Professor Cole
* Konstantinos Samaa as Rough Boy

## Production

Maggie Gyllenhaal acquired the film rights to the Elena Ferrante novel in October 2018, and wrote and directed the adaptation. The lead character, Leda, says that she is named for the woman in the W. B. Yeats poem "Leda and the Swan", which Yeats based on the Leda story of Greek mythology.
In February 2020, Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson and Peter Sarsgaard were cast in the film. In August, Paul Mescal was added, and in October 2020, Oliver Jackson-Cohen was cast as well, with Ed Harris, Dagmara Domińczyk, Jack Farthing and Alba Rohrwacher joining in November.
Principal photography was filmed in Spetses, Greece from 28 September to 31 October 2020.

## Release

The Lost Daughter had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2021. In August 2021, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film in the United States and several other countries, adding more markets, including the United Kingdom, in October. The film screened at film festivals in the Telluride, Hamptons, London, Lyon Metropolis, Mill Valley, Montclair, New York, San Diego (closing night), Zurich, and Whistler Film Festival. It was released in the United States on December 17, 2021, in a limited release prior to streaming on Netflix on December 31, 2021.

## Reception

At its opening night world premiere, the movie received a four-minute standing ovation from Venice Film Festival attendees in the Sala Grande.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 237 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A strikingly assured debut for writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter unites a brilliant cast in service of a daringly ambitious story." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, based on reviews from 51 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "Still, no matter how flat The Lost Daughter can sometimes seem, there's always something to hold our attention. The movie is never great, but it's never exactly dull. There's always a reason to stick around for the next scene."
Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times wrote: "Equal parts troubling and affecting, Leda epitomizes a type of woman whose needs are rarely addressed in American mainstream movies. We can dislike her, but we are never permitted to revile her." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune wrote Gyllenhaal "keeps a close eye on what brings out the best in a scene, and in a story worth telling, with morally imperfect, fully dimensional, persistently human characters."
Alissa Wilkinson of Vox wrote "The movie captures the spirit of the novel well. It's suspenseful, but it's not a thriller; there are elements of obsession and eroticism, but they never quite go where you expect. The end is deeply ambiguous, neither punishing nor condoning its characters' behavior. It simply asks us to sit with them — to pay them the respect of attention, and learn something about ourselves in the process."
Actress and filmmaker Olivia Wilde praised the film, particularly Gyllenhaal's direction by saying "This unflinching new filmmaker only has time for the most interesting questions, it seems, and will not sanitize the narrative for our comfort. We have been warned: Maggie Gyllenhaal is here to push us to be a braver audience, and I, for one, am lapping it up from the front row."

### Accolades

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result |
| Venice International Film Festival | September 11, 2021 | Golden Lion | The Lost Daughter | Nominated |
| Venice International Film Festival | September 11, 2021 | Golden Osella for Best Screenplay | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Won |
| Gotham Independent Film Awards | November 29, 2021 | Best Feature | Charles Dorfman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman-Keren and Talia Kleinhendler | Won |
| Gotham Independent Film Awards | November 29, 2021 | Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Won |
| Gotham Independent Film Awards | November 29, 2021 | Best Screenplay | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Won |
| Gotham Independent Film Awards | November 29, 2021 | Outstanding Lead Performance | Olivia Colman | Won |
| Gotham Independent Film Awards | November 29, 2021 | Outstanding Supporting Performance | Jessie Buckley | Nominated |
| New York Film Critics Circle | December 3, 2021 | Best First Film | The Lost Daughter | Won |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | December 6, 2021 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| New York Film Critics Online | December 12, 2021 | Top 10 Films of 2021 | The Lost Daughter | Won |
| Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | December 12, 2021 | Best Supporting Actress | Jessie Buckley | Won |
| Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | December 12, 2021 | Best New Filmmaker | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Won |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | December 15, 2021 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | December 15, 2021 | Best Supporting Actress | Jessie Buckley | Nominated |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | December 15, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | December 15, 2021 | Milos Stehlik Breakthrough Filmmaker Award | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards | December 19, 2021 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association | December 20, 2021 | Best Picture | The Lost Daughter | Runner-up |
| Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association | December 20, 2021 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Runner-up |
| National Society of Film Critics | January 8, 2022 | Best Supporting Actress | Jessie Buckley | Runner-up |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | January 2022 | Best Film | The Lost Daughter | Nominated |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | January 2022 | Best Director | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | January 2022 | Best Screenplay, Adapted | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | January 2022 | Best Woman Director | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | January 2022 | Best Woman Screenwriter | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | January 2022 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Won |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | January 2022 | Most Daring Performance Award | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | January 2022 | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Jessie Buckley | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards | January 9, 2022 | Best Director | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards | January 9, 2022 | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| San Diego Film Critics Society | January 10, 2021 | Best Director | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| San Diego Film Critics Society | January 10, 2021 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle | January 10, 2022 | Best Director | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle | January 10, 2022 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Won |
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle | January 10, 2022 | Best Supporting Actress | Jessie Buckley | Nominated |
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle | January 10, 2022 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Austin Film Critics Association | January 11, 2022 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| Austin Film Critics Association | January 11, 2022 | Best First Film | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Toronto Film Critics Association | January 16, 2022 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Won |
| Toronto Film Critics Association | January 16, 2022 | Best Supporting Actress | Jessie Buckley | Won |
| Toronto Film Critics Association | January 16, 2022 | Best First Feature | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Won |
| Houston Film Critics Society Awards | January 19, 2022 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| Houston Film Critics Society Awards | January 19, 2022 | Best Supporting Actress | Jessie Buckley | Nominated |
| Online Film Critics Society Awards | January 24, 2022 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Won |
| Online Film Critics Society Awards | January 24, 2022 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Online Film Critics Society Awards | January 24, 2022 | Best Debut Feature | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Won |
| London Film Critics Circle Awards | February 6, 2022 | Film of the Year | The Lost Daughter | Nominated |
| London Film Critics Circle Awards | February 6, 2022 | Actress of the Year | Olivia Colman | Won |
| London Film Critics Circle Awards | February 6, 2022 | British/Irish Actress of the Year (for body of work) | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| London Film Critics Circle Awards | February 6, 2022 | British/Irish Actress of the Year (for body of work) | Jessie Buckley | Nominated |
| London Film Critics Circle Awards | February 6, 2022 | Supporting Actress of the Year | Jessie Buckley | Nominated |
| London Film Critics Circle Awards | February 6, 2022 | Screenwriter of the Year | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Set Decorators Society of America Awards | February 22, 2022 | Best Achievement in Decor/Design of a Contemporary Feature Film | Christine-Athina Vlachos, Inbal Weinberg | Nominated |
| USC Scripter Awards | February 26, 2022 | Best Adapted Screenplay - Film | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Won |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | February 27, 2021 | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| Art Directors Guild Awards | March 5, 2022 | Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film | Inbal Weinberg | Nominated |
| Independent Spirit Awards | March 6, 2022 | Best Feature | Charles Dorfman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman-Keren and Talia Kleinhendler | Won |
| Independent Spirit Awards | March 6, 2022 | Best Director | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Won |
| Independent Spirit Awards | March 6, 2022 | Best Screenplay | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Won |
| Independent Spirit Awards | March 6, 2022 | Best Supporting Female | Jessie Buckley | Nominated |
| Directors Guild of America Awards | March 12, 2022 | Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Won |
| IFTA Film & Drama Awards | March 12, 2022 | Actress in a supporting role | Jessie Buckley | Won |
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | March 13, 2022 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | March 13, 2022 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | March 13, 2022 | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Jessie Buckley | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | March 13, 2022 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Artios Awards | March 17, 2022 | Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Studio or Independent (Drama) | Kahleen Crawford | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | March 27, 2022 | Best Actress | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | March 27, 2022 | Best Supporting Actress | Jessie Buckley | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | March 27, 2022 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Satellite Awards | April 2, 2022 | Best Motion Picture – Drama | The Lost Daughter | Nominated |
| Satellite Awards | April 2, 2022 | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Olivia Colman | Nominated |
| Satellite Awards | April 2, 2022 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Nominated |