Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s latest film dives into mother-daughter relationships and sapphic summer flings
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY MUBI
There is a painfully heavy silence hanging over Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw’s characters. With discrete facial expressions and tiny movements, both are able to capture the tumultuous relationship between this mother-daughter duo. As Fiona Shaw opens her mother to complain about the taste of her water again, we see the fiery madness brew inside Emma Mackey. It is terrifyingly quiet, bubbling away until it cannot be contained anymore.
In short, Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s latest sapphic film Hot Milk is mostly about what’s not said. Based on Deborah Levy’s hit book of the same name, the film sees mother Rose (Shaw) and daughter Sofia (Mackey) head to a Spanish clinic in hopes of finding a medical cure for Rose’s paralysis. What follows is a summer of sapphic longing for Sofia, tensions between Rose and her daughter and trauma bubbling to the surface, electric and painful just like the multitude of jellyfish stings that occur.
While the crux of this film hangs on the relationship between a mother and a daughter, it delves quickly into its sapphic subplot with ease. Sofia becomes entranced with an older seamstress called Ingrid (Vicky Krieps). While their love story is something of a coming-of-age, we see no coming out, no big revelation about sexuality itself. Instead, Ingrid offers Sofia escapism, somewhere to look when reality is becoming too bleak. While their relationship doesn’t consist of anything too concrete, their passionate intimacy soon manifests into vulnerability.
As much as sapphic snogs are one powerfully compelling element to this film, its star feature is Fiona Shaw’s performance. The celebrated queer icon has shown her range before in shows like Killing Eve or Andor. But in this role as Rose we see her let go completely, utterly committing herself to the role in a way that is almost painful to watch. We see Rose’s helplessness in addressing both her current situation and her past trauma. Emma Mackey captures her disgruntled daughter in perfect parallel, and the pair move through this sleepy Spanish coastal town with all the rage and sadness needed to carry this plot of the film.
This is not an action packed thriller. Nor is it a sleepy sapphic romance. It exists somewhere in the murky depths below, with no real conclusion. From Fiona Shaw in particular, it is a masterclass of characterisation. From Emma Mackey, it is an expansive discussion about childhood, especially for those who were stripped of one.
Hot Milk is in cinemas from 4 July.
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