Despite her almost 40-year career and six feature films to her credit, Joanna Hogg remained a total unknown in France until the release of her diptych The Souvenir in 2022. However, the filmmaker has made Tilda Swinton her muse, present in all her films, and despite the status of this huge star, it was not enough. But The Souvenir made the director popular among moviegoers, and Eternal Daughter her latest film, arrives in theaters this March 22, 2023.
In this horror movie-like drama, Tilda Swinton plays a mother and daughter (yes, both at the same time), who have come to spend a few days in a hotel lost in the English countryside, where the mother stayed in her youth. For Julie, her daughter, a director in the grip of doubt, this vacation is not so relaxing and the heavy and sometimes gloomy atmosphere of the hotel worries her. She is sure of it, strange things are happening in this hotel, and she starts to explore it to understand what is wrong.
From the first minutes of the film, we are seized by this atmosphere. Just like the main character, we are surprised by this hotel with corridors always empty, but whose rooms are nevertheless occupied, by this misty mistress for no reason, by this landscape always foggy and which never lets appear an ounce of sky, but especially, by the ghostly silhouettes which we see here and there behind the windows.
This atmosphere is frightening, sometimes gloomy, but it never goes into frontal horror. In this way, Eternal Daughter reminds us of the first half-hour of Stanley Kubrick's cult film The Shining, when this empty hotel terrified the viewer by its mere existence. Throughout the film, we don't really know in which direction the scenario is heading, but we follow it with our eyes closed, as what we see is so exciting.
Tilda Swinton is a big part of the film's success. As a transforming actress, she excels in this double role that is never a staging device. We understand why Joanna Hogg continues to call upon her for each of her films. Alone in this hotel, she is overcome by anxiety, just like us. A disturbing strangeness emerges from it, and the recurring musical theme does not help. In short, we come out of it a little shaken, without really knowing if we understood what we saw, but with the assurance of having seen a great film.
And if you like The Souvenir and Eternal Daughter, note that from March 29th, the first three films of Joanna Hogg will be released for the first time in French theaters. They are Unrelated, Archipelago and Exhibition.
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Dates and Opening Time
Starts March 22th, 2023
Recommended age
From 16 years old
Average duration
1 h
36 min
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