Freda Maddison reviews The Eternal Daughter at Borderlines Film Festival

In the brooding hotel ‘Moel Famau Hall’, it becomes clear that ghosts do exist, not always in phantom figures, but rather present through the power and tangibility of memory.

The Eternal Daughter, set in a looming mansion by the name of ‘Hill of Mothers’, explores the relationship between a mother called Rosalind and her daughter Julie on a small birthday ‘holiday’. The film gently interrogates the dynamics between Julie and Rosalind as they face their respective challenges: for Julie, the painstaking fear of losing her mother whilst watching her succumb to age along with a desperation to keep her happy; for her mother, the memories that accompany the mysterious manor. Indeed, the perpetual fog that hangs over The Eternal Daughter heightens the sense of mystery that pervades many scenes, intensified by the darkly lit shots of long corridors and rooms bathed in eerie green light. However, through the use of sound effects and a limited musical score, director Joanna Hogg leaves much to the imagination.

At its core, this is a deeply personal film about love, reminiscence, and the pain of life’s experiences; a film about how our mothers are their own women too, shaped by everything they have been through. Nevertheless, it is interesting how Hogg chose to cast Tilda Swinton as both Julie and Rosalind, perhaps as a nod towards the notion that we become our mothers as time passes, mirroring their mannerisms and idiosyncrasies.

Overall, The Eternal Daughter is a tender ode to Joanna Hogg’s own mother, slowly crafted into a spectral dreamscape with a plot twist at the end that I personally found to be underwhelming and slightly underdeveloped. However, based on the reactions of the other audience members, perhaps I was alone in this opinion. The eerie yet quiet atmosphere that is built up through the film, with minimal and soft-spoken dialogue and extended shots of nature, makes for an unhurried watch. For some, the pacing may be a little too leisurely and the plot twist a little too predictable, but for others, The Eternal Daughter would be worth a viewing.