,Two Tilda Swintons for the price of one in Eternal Daughter by Joanna Hogg, produced by Martin Scorsese. The actress embodies the dual role of a screenwriter and her elderly mother, accompanied by their dog (the actress’s own pet), who have come to spend a stay in a strange hotel, a place steeped in their family history. .
The actress finds the director Caprice (1986), The Souvenir (2019) and The Souvenir: Part II (2021) for this gothic tale playing on the fear of the dark and on the difficult relationship between a mother and her daughter who wishes to make her happy during their last moments together.
An intense and scary film
“Even though the film takes place in a dreamlike setting, invaded by mist and gargoyles, Joanna and I felt like we were evolving in a totally believable environment because we were discussing the thoughts and emotions that bind us as friends, explains Tilda Swinton in the press kit. Every corner of a disturbing building reinforces the discomfort of an oppressed spectator who follows the long silhouette of the actress through winding corridors in dark gardens until a poignant but saving final revelation.
No one better than Tilda Swinton knows how to blend into the strangeness of a place that she makes immediately fascinating by her mere presence. The heavy atmosphere is reinforced by a subtle staging that does not insist on any effect, which gives Eternal Daughter and to the double performance of the actress a power of great intensity.