The Lost Daughter (2021), directed by Maggie Gyllenhall

A professor of Comparative Literature, Leda is holidaying alone in a quiet Greek coastal resort. Her idyllic break is marred by a series of disturbing events, at first small but soon escalating, which trigger flashbacks of her life as a young wife and mother and aspiring academic. Her troubling interactions with various members of a large and disruptive Greek-American family showcase all Leda’s qualities and faults and may end up threatening her life. Maggie Gyllenhall wrote and directed this thoughtful film that focuses on the push and pull of motherhood. Olivia Colman brings her usual charm and skill to the older Leda, while Jessie Buckley is luminous as the younger version., Dakota Johnson plays a strong hand as Nina, the young mother Leda identifies with and both helps and undermines. Sympathies ebb and flow for this very real character, whose story lingers long after the film ends.