Despite a career spanning almost 40 years 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. Yet the filmmaker had made Tilda Swinton her muse, present in all her films, and despite this huge star's status, it wasn't enough. But The Souvenir made the director popular with cinephiles, and Eternal Daughter, her latest film, arrives in cinemas on March 22, 2023.
In this horror-film-style drama, Tilda Swinton plays a mother and daughter (yes, both at once), who have come to spend a few days in a hotel in the English countryside, where the mother spent some time in her youth. For Julie, her daughter, a director in the throes of self-doubt, the vacation is not so relaxing, and the hotel's heavy, sometimes gloomy atmosphere worries her. She's sure that strange things are going on in this hotel, and sets out to explore it and find out what's wrong.
From the very first minutes of the film, we're gripped by this atmosphere. Like the main character, we're astonished by the hotel's corridors, which are always empty but whose rooms are nevertheless occupied; by the misty landscape, which never reveals an ounce of sky; and, above all, by the ghostly silhouettes seen here and there behind the windows.
The atmosphere is eerie, at times creepy, but it never descends into full-frontal horror. In this respect, Eternal Daughter recalls the first half-hour of Stanley Kubrick's cult film The Shining, when that empty hotel terrified viewers by its mere existence. Throughout the film, we don't really know in which direction the script is heading, but we follow it with our eyes closed, so fascinating is what we see.
Tilda Swinton has a lot to do with the film's success. A transforming actress, she excels in this double role, which is never a directorial gimmick. It's easy to see why Joanna Hogg continues to call on her for each of her films. Alone in this hotel, she is overcome by anxiety, just as we are. An eerie strangeness emanates from it, and the recurring musical theme doesn't help matters. In short, we come away a little shaken, not really sure if we've understood what we've seen, but with the assurance of having seen a great film.
And if you enjoy The Souvenir and Eternal Daughter, note that on March 29, Joanna Hogg's first three films will be released for the first time in French cinemas. They are Unrelated, Archipelago and Exhibition.
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Dates and Opening Time
Starts March 22, 2023
Recommended age
From 16 years old
Average duration
1 h
36 min
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