An artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets when they return to a former family home, now a hotel haunted by its mysterious past. Featuring a towering, deeply moving performance by Tilda Swinton, acclaimed filmmaker Joanna Hogg's beguiling latest film is a brilliant and captivating exploration of parental relationships and the things we leave behind.
The Garden Cinema View:
Fans of Joanna Hogg’s Souvenir-verse were probably not expecting a full on Ghost Story for Christmas as the next instalment. But here we are with this perfect evocation of atmosphere and setting that is deeply embedded in the tradition of M. R. James (and his namesake Henry). While Hogg perfectly captures the setting and atmospherics of the English ghost story, viewers my be relieved/disappointed that The Eternal Daughter is voided of direct confrontations with horror. Rather, Hogg seeks out and mines the undercurrent of melancholia and longing for loved ones and lost places that scaffolds so many of the best haunted house narratives. What remains is a lean and masterfully controlled film with a sinister sense of humour and a deeply moving meditation on loss and grief.
