[imagesource: Netflix]

Motherhood is not such a beach for Olivia Colman and Dakota Johnson in the first trailer for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s upcoming directorial debut.

The Lost Daughter, which is based on a book of the same name by mysterious Italian author Elena Ferrante, starts out with a friendly interaction between two mothers but quickly transforms into an unsettling obsession.

Mystery and intrigue are at the core of this film, says Mashable, made more intense by the chilling soundtrack and dream-like cinematography.

Netflix has the official synopsis:

Alone on a seaside vacation, Leda (Colman) becomes consumed with a young mother and daughter as she watches them on the beach.

Unnerved by their compelling relationship, (and their raucous and menacing extended family), Leda is overwhelmed by her own memories of the terror, confusion and intensity of early motherhood.

An impulsive act shocks Leda into the strange and ominous world of her own mind, where she is forced to face the unconventional choices she made as a young mother and their consequences.

The trailer sure does promise something exquisitely unsettling:

The reviews from the screening at the Venice Film Festival premiere earlier this year were excellent, with the performances from Colman, Johnson, and Jessie Buckley singled out by critics as potential awards contenders.

IndieWire has one of the positive reviews:

“Gyllenhaal’s film is a story of self-ascribed transgression and of shame buried and turned bitterly inward, and it too, is made with such alertness to the power of cinematic language — particularly that of performance — that even as you feel your stomach slowly drop at the implications of what you’re watching, you cannot break its spreading sinister spell.”

Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard, Dagmara Dominczyk, and Paul Mescal also feature in this nail-biting thriller.

The Lost Daughter will be in theatres from December 17 and will stream on Netflix from December 31.

[sources:mashable&indiewire]