Few actresses are as exciting to watch onscreen these days as Oscar winner Olivia Colman and soon-to-be Oscar winner Jessie Buckley. (If you know, you know.)
Colman can currently be seen in the new remake of "The Roses" opposite Benedict Cumberbatch and will soon take on the famously silly role of Mrs. Bennet in the upcoming Netflix adaptation of "Pride & Prejudice." Meanwhile, Buckley is presently making the entire film-festival circuit sob with her exquisitely heartbreaking work in "Hamnet" alongside Paul Mescal and will next play the Bride of Frankenstein in Maggie Gyllenhaal's upcoming monster film "The Bride!"
But well before all of that, both Colman and Buckley (and Mescal, for that matter) offered up devastating turns in another Gyllenhaal-directed drama: 2021's "The Lost Daughter." The deserved-more-love Netflix film, which only got a week-long theatrical run before premiering on the streamer, sees the "Wicked Little Letters" costars playing younger and older versions of the same character, a woman who is forced to confront the secrets of her past while trying to enjoy a solo beach vacation in Greece.
If you haven't yet streamed "The Lost Daughter" on Netflix, here's why you should add the gripping psychological drama to your watch list.
What is 'The Lost Daughter' about?
Based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Elena Ferrante, "The Lost Daughter" centers on Leda Caruso (played by Olivia Colman in the present and Jessie Buckley in the past), a divorced university professor on a solo summer holiday in Greece.
While vacationing, she encounters Nina (Dakota Johnson), a young mother with a three-year-old daughter, a large, raucous family and a little something on the side with Will (Paul Mescal), a worker at the resort. When Nina's little girl goes missing one day at the beach, Leda finds her and returns her to the admittedly exhausted mom, which triggers painful memories of Leda's own struggles decades earlier as a mother to two daughters, Bianca (Robyn Elwell) and Martha (Ellie Blake).
Through flashbacks, we see young Leda grappling with the overwhelming needs of motherhood, leading her to make unconventional choices that haunt her all these years later.
Why you should you stream 'The Lost Daughter' on Netflix
As Leda, both Colman and Buckley gamely dig into the uncomfortable truths and undeniable toils of modern-day motherhood, each receiving Academy Award nominations (for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively) for their intense work in Gyllenhaal's film.
"Equal parts troubling and affecting, Leda epitomizes a type of woman whose needs are rarely addressed in American mainstream movies. We can dislike her, but we are never permitted to revile her," reads Jeanette Catsoulis' write-up for The New York Times. "The film’s empathetic gaze and Colman’s spiky, heartbreaking performance — watch her glow in a lovely dinner scene as she shares intimate memories with Will — tether us to her side."
Gyllenhaal herself received an Oscar nod for her screenplay, a faithful, unsettling adaptation of Ferrante's novel. The filmmaker also received widespread praise for her direction, "a strikingly assured debut" that "unites a brilliant cast in service of a daringly ambitious story," reads the critical consensus over at Rotten Tomatoes, where the drama holds a 94% approval rating.
Watch "The Lost Daughter" on Netflix now
