Hot Milk review: A frustratingly ambiguous drama
I was not a fan of the most recent adaptation of a Deborah Levy novel, Swimming Home, so I kept my expectations in check for the film adaptation of Hot Milk.
The drama, adapted and written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, follows the mother and daughter Rose (Fiona Shaw) and Sofia (Emma Mackey) during a trip to Spain. They are there for the latest attempt to treat wheelchair-bound Rose’s mysterious long-term illness or psychosomatic condition. Twentysomething Sofia, who has been her mother’s carer for many years, gets a break from reality when she meets and becomes infatuated with the free spirit Ingrid (Vicky Krieps).
I was most interested in the mother-daughter aspect of the film and learning more about how, when and why Rose ended up in a wheelchair. This information is slowly revealed over the course of the slow, meandering film, which is oddly elusive and uninterested in giving us all of the answers. It’s a bit too ambiguous for my liking, and the bold and weird ending is tonally at odds with what came before and leaves you wondering what happens next.
The erotic romance aspect of the film doesn’t work as well, and I kept wanting the story to go back to the mother-daughter plot. Krieps’ Ingrid is sensual and alluring and almost like a figment of Sofia’s imagination. I liked that she offered Sofia companionship and comfort and someone else to talk to instead of her mother, but I didn’t truly buy the romance, particularly as Ingrid is such a free spirit that she hurts Sofia’s feelings.
Shaw and Mackey’s performances are the real reason to watch this film. Shaw plays a difficult, cantankerous woman who is carrying a lot of repressed trauma. She isn’t easy to look after and she drives Sofia mad sometimes, so you can understand why Sofia needs an escape. Mackey is simmering with resentment and pent-up anger. She feels trapped when she longs to be free to live her life. This tension between them is far more interesting than the romance.
While the performances are excellent, the slow and ambiguous storytelling holds the film back from being truly enjoyable.
In cinemas from Friday 4th July and on MUBI from Friday 22nd August