Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter is an exceptionally crafted character study – filled with incredible performances from its stellar cast. The film explores the burdens of motherhood and the inexpressible feelings mothers aren’t allowed to express publicly – as well as the incredible harm to both mother and child that can occur when those sentiments are kept bottled up inside. The film opens with a moment of shock, cutting immediately to its opening credits over the film’s jazzy score, a bold and confident declaration that immediately sets us on edge. The handheld camerawork intensifies this growing anxiety throughout the film, with the precise framing able to shift ever-so-slightly to reveal watching eyes in the distance or to alter the composition and show Leda watching and observing back. The dislocation that comes with traveling – especially with having an “idyllic” vacation “spoiled” by the realities of rotting fruit, bugs on your pillow, rude neighbors – invites the kind of introspection and soul-searching upon which Leda embarks throughout the film, especially when confronted by a young mother that reminds her of herself in her younger days. Here’s another film this year that makes incredible use of the fluidity of time and memory – the way flashbacks intrude upon the present evoke the way that memories intrude upon our day to day lives. And here, the flashbacks are shot more often in closeup, giving them a much more subjective and intensely personal stylistic flavor. This is a sensational film that has numerous layers to continue exploring.