Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A woman's seaside vacation takes a dark turn when her obsession with a young mother forces her to confront secrets from her past.
Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut adapts Elena Ferrante's novella with psychological precision. Olivia Colman delivers a career-best performance as Leda, carrying the film's complex emotional ambivalence with remarkable depth. Jessie Buckley also impresses in the flashback sequences. The plot is deliberately slow-burn and interior, which will alienate some viewers but rewards patience. Cinematography is competent and atmospheric without being visually distinctive. The film's greatest strength is its unflinching, non-judgmental portrayal of maternal ambivalence — a subject rarely explored with such honesty — but it doesn't reinvent the psychological drama form. The ending is ambiguous in a way that feels earned rather than evasive, though some may find it unsatisfying.