Criticism of 'The Dark Daughter' (2021): Mater amatísima

Leda, a teacher who decides to leave her life in Florence and spend the summer in a small town on the Greek coast, strikes up a strange relationship with a mysterious woman and her daughter. This is how this debut of her as director of the actress Maggie Gyllenhaal begins, with an intimate story in which her protagonist reviews her motherhood, this time facing a bewildered young mother. The first is brought to life with sober intensity by the intellectual Olivia Colman; while the second appears under the features of the humble Dakota Johnson. Both performers are the best assets of a worthy drama, awarded for best screenplay at the Venice Film Festival.

The experience of motherhood is the heart of the matter in ‘The Dark Daughter’, when its protagonist remembers the love that was born at the time of the rain. Also the sleepless nights, the fine thread quilts and the lavender flowers flying through open and happy spaces. A sleeping creature is like a virgin continent or an inviolate forest surrounded by mystery. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s camera faces that life experience with a love that is bigger than the ocean, that overcomes and engulfs it like a tsunami. The film also describes a mother’s love that never complains and that, next to her baby’s cradle, tenderly recites a perfumed verse.