Maggie Gyllenhaal‘s upcoming directorial debut is set to be filled with talent. Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson and Gyllenhaal’s husband Peter Sarsgaard have all signed on for roles in Lost Daughter, an adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novel.
The film will revolve around Leda, an elegant college professor on a seaside summer vacation, who becomes consumed by Nina and her young daughter as she watches them on the beach. Unnerved by their compelling relationship, and their raucous and menacing extended family, she becomes overwhelmed by her own memories of the terror, confusion and intensity of early motherhood.
Forced to consider the unconventional choices she made as a young mother and the consequences they had for her family, she begins to unravel. Colman will play Leda, while Johnson will play Nina. Buckley and Sarsgaard’s roles are not yet known.
“When I finished reading Elena Ferrante‘s The Lost Daughter, I felt that something secret and true had been said out loud”, Gyllenhaal said in a statement. “And I was both disturbed and comforted by that. I immediately thought how much more intense the experience would be in a movie theatre, with other people around. And I set to work on this adaptation.
I find that the script has attracted other people interested in exploring these secret truths about motherhood, sexuality, femininity, desire. And I’m thrilled to continue my collaboration with such brave and exciting actors and filmmakers”.
Pie Films are producing. They previously produced the 2019 Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms and two versions of drama The Kindergarten Teacher, which Gyllenhaal herself starred in the English-language version of.
Gyllenhaal has always been a great actress, and if she can have even half of that success behind the camera, Lost Daughter will be the beginning of a long and fruitful directorial career.
#Peace.Love.LostDaughter
