It’s fair to say that this year’s Best Actress race was crazier than any other. First Nicole Kidman won the Golden Globe, Kristen Stewart lost out on a BAFTA nomination, and Jessica Chastain won a SAG Award and ultimately taking home the Oscar. Because of the chaos, all the nominees in the category are gaining popularity including Britain’s national treasure, Olivia Colman. She has won several critics' awards for her performance in The Lost Daughter and the film’s director and co-writer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, was even nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. Because of this, many are taking another look at this recent masterpiece of a film which showed us the importance of depicting flawed women and mothers. Here’s a list of several movies like it that show the darker side of what it means to be a woman and a parent.
Related:Jessie Buckley's Essential Performances from 'Chernobyl' to 'The Lost Daughter'
The Favourite
When you sit down to watch a period drama about a royal who lived a couple of hundred years ago, you can usually expect to see big costumes, repressed emotions, and a serious but dull examination of the ruling elite. With the exception of the costumes, The Favorite, is an entirely different movie. The film follows the close relationship between Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) and Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) when it is threatened by the arrival of Sarah’s cousin, Abigail (Emma Stone). Colman truly earned her Oscar for her role as a spiraling and childlike woman still reeling from her 17 failed pregnancies. While The Lost Daughter focuses on the pain that comes from being a bad mom, The Favourite shows the regression that can occur from the inability to parent a child. For any Olivia Colman fans out there (and we know there's a lot), it remains essential viewing.
Mildred Pierce
This is the ultimate story of unrequited love from a mother to her daughter. Based on the novel of the same name by James M. Cain, Mildred Pierce tells the story of a divorced mother of two during the Great Depression who starts as a lowly waitress and works her way up to restaurant owner, all for the well-being of her daughters. To Mildred’s dismay, her eldest daughter Veda loathes her working-class spirit and resents her mother’s status as a single woman. Joan Crawford gives an incredible performance as the title character and transmits a sense of yearning and desperation with every frame. Just as The Lost Daughter deals with the pain that comes from an unfulfilled relationship between mother and daughter, Mildred Pierce does the same but with an extra dose of suspense and melodrama.
Postcards from the Edge
Many of the films on this list show the deep and disturbing wounds that come from a broken mother-daughter relationship in a depressing way. Postcards from the Edge finds a way to remain honest about these wounds while also being funny and touching. Written by Carrie Fisher (and based on her own semi-autobiographical novel), the movie follows Suzanne Vale (Meryl Streep) a Hollywood actress whose substance abuse problem is out of hand. After a spell in rehab, her production company insists she live with her mother, Doris (Shirley MacLaine) a former star and functioning alcoholic, as a condition of her employment. MacLaine and Streep are at their best as quarreling and petty mother and daughter and Fisher’s script is pitch-perfect. For those who loved the themes of The Lost Daughter, but prefer lighter fare, this is one to watch.
Related:From 'Peep Show' to 'The Lost Daughter,' 5 Essential Olivia Colman Performances
August: Osage County
Another film starring Meryl Streep, August: Osage County is a brilliant adaptation of a timeless Tracy Letts play. After the death of the family patriarch, three daughters and their families are reunited for the first time in a long time. Once there, they have to confront their mother’s drug addiction and their own personal demons. In this exquisite ensemble piece, we see each character battle with the idea that they may be harmful to the person that they love so much, similarly to Olivia Colman and Dakota Johnson’s characters in The Lost Daughter. With an outstanding cast including the likes of Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and Benedict Cumberbatch, it is a great way to spend two hours.
Mommie Dearest
Mommie Dearest is simply a more extravagant and camp version of The Lost Daughter. Though you may feel sympathy for Joan Crawford’s character in Mildred Pierce, you will feel none for her in this film. In this feature based on the memoir by her daughter, Christina, she recounts her harrowing experience growing up with Crawford and the abuse both she and her brother endured from this vain and monstrous woman. The film has become a parody of itself with an over-the-top performance from Faye Dunaway and some incredibly exaggerated dialogue. All this being said, the movie is a classic, and you will never be able to forget Joan’s grating voice as she screams “No Wire Hangers!”
Wild Rose
This film was tragically overlooked in 2018 during awards seasons, but it is one of the best films about the cost of following your dreams. Wild Rose tells the story of Rose-Lynn Harlan (Jessie Buckley), an aspiring country singer from Scotland who has just gotten out of prison. Before she gets her career off the ground, however, she has to create a stable life for her two kids. While it’s wonderful to see Jessie Buckley finally get Academy recognition for her role as the young Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter, it’s a shame she could not have gotten it for Wild Rose. She accomplishes the impossible by making the unpredictable and unreliable Rose-Lynn understandable. This tale of maternal doubt and untenable dreams is made complete with a brilliant soundtrack and a great supporting turn from Julie Walters.
Antichrist
What’s the worst thing that could happen to a parent? Many would rightfully say the premature death of a child, but when you compound that with the devolution of your partner into a violent and unhinged person, your problems go from bad to worse. Antichrist follows this predicament after a couple’s child falls out a window while they were having sex. Charlotte Gainsbourg as the grieving and unhinged mother delivers an unnerving performance which rightfully won her the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. Meanwhile, director Lars Von Trier shows the extent to which evil resides in all of us and even the best mothers may harbor violent fantasies.
The Father
In yet another great performance, Olivia Colman shows us how difficult it can be to take on the caretaker role for your own parent. The Father follows Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), a man slowly deteriorating from dementia who refuses his daughter’s help and begins to lose touch with reality. While The Lost Daughter deals with the guilt that comes from being a so-called “bad mother,” this film deals with the guilt that comes from being a “bad daughter”. In both parts, Colman's acting is incredibly compelling. At times, she is bewildering and at other times beautiful. However, it is Hopkins who makes the film complete. Through him, we feel the same confusion and fear that a dementia patient does, making for an incredibly visceral experience.
