Venice 2022: The Eternal Daughter

Echoes of the haunted corridors and longing words left unsaid guide The Eternal Daughter to that space between suffering and estrangement. Joanna Hogg ushers this intimate portrayal of mother and daughter and the unspoken tension and love between the two with such character. For those unconvinced of her storytelling talents after The Souvenir, Hogg’s latest pairing with Tilda Swinton should put those worries to bed. As articulate a feature as it is a disturbing one, The Eternal Daughter hopes to prey on the mind and its corruptible, emotive state as slowly as it can, in a feature that takes plenty of time to dictate some fairly simple, moving moments.  

Deathly slow at times, The Eternal Daughter takes great pride in just how long it takes to make the point of fractured families, writer’s block and uncomfortable displays of emotion. Swinton holds her own in a dual role as the mother and daughter on holiday in the Welsh countryside, where it would appear they are locked into the hotel and the routine they accidentally set out for themselves. Unspoken silences between Swinton and Swinton are the key to unlocking the tensions of grief and lingering comments that had best been left unsaid. How an individual processes their past is put on full display here in a feature that feels sombre and eerie. 

Crestfallen leads shuffle around the interior of the hotel in a feature that relies totally on the mother and daughter relationship at its core. To have Swinton provide both layers of that is to give her full control of how the narrative is shaped and where it will lead. That much is to show how safe a hand and confident a performer Swinton is. A monumental double bill that appears to understand the grace of exploring the past as well as the need to set it aside. To consider it and, crucially, to move on from it. Hogg and Swinton make for a charming pair together, riffing on one another for new strokes of broad visions and exceptionally well-performed, tender scenes. Fragments of the past are collated by an artist, naturally, looking to piece together her past. That much is not new to the genre, but it is how its effect is carried that matters most. 

Here, Swinton and Hogg work more on the strength a dual-role can provide than they do on the characteristics at the heart. The Eternal Daughter is an interesting piece because it relies on the chemistry between a performer and themself. At times, it borders on a one-woman show, with Swinton delving deep into the soul and coming out with just the right embrace of emotive displays and strongly worded, eerie conversations. Swinton’s lead role as the artist irons out the emotionally frantic grief that can be felt for things left unsaid to loved ones old and new, and that is the moral high The Eternal Daughter finds, for Hogg has understood that to make this work, focus on the core relationship and regret is key. It is never quite able to shift away from the plight of the artist, but The Eternal Daughter has more than enough understanding of its grief to work, and work it does.