Buckle up for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter, based on the very popular novel written by Elena Ferrante.

The best selling novel has struck a chord with readers worldwide. And there is no doubt that the movie will get people talking! 

Meet Leda, played by Olivia Colman, one of the most unsympathetic characters on earth! Leda’s a British woman on vacation in Greece, alone. She shares the beach with a loud, obnoxious family from New York. This family seems to be infringing on Leda’s territory, disturbing her solitude shouting and swearing.

A member of the family asks for her beach umbrella and she selfishly refuses to relinquish it. She’s watching Nina (Dakota Johnson), part of the Queens crew, and the latter’s toddler daughter. The little girl acts out, hitting, crying and pouring water on her sun-baked mother, who takes it.

Memories of raising Leda’s two daughters instantly hit her, which includes parenting’s joy and the annoyances. She leaves them for stretches to work, making clear of her frustrations with them.

Now a grown woman, those feelings of anger rise up. And she acts out against Nina’s child in a way that most will find disturbing.

This story hit Gyllenhaal not just as a filmmaker. It hits her first and foremost as a daughter, a wife and a mother of two children.

Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Maggie Gyllenhaal and the entire cast. This cast includes Jessie Buckley, Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard and Paul Mescal about working on the film.

The Lost Daughter is in select theaters on December 17, 2021 and will stream on Netflix from December 31, 2021.

Watch ALL of the interviews in the playlist below: