Hot Milk, 2025.
Written and Directed by Rebecca Lenkiewicz.
Starring Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, Vicky Krieps, Vincent Perez, Yann Gael, Patsy Ferran, Yorgos Tsiantoulas, Paris Thomopoulos, Korina Gougouli, Denia Mimerini, Dimitris Oikonomidis, and Electra Sarri.
SYNOPSIS:
With a strange illness, a mother and her daughter embark on a journey to the Spanish coast to find a cure, and along the way the daughter discovers another reality far from her controlling mother.
Anthropology-curious Sofia (Emma Mackey) feels trapped, almost as if she is confined to a wheelchair, like her overbearing mother, Rose (Fiona Shaw), who consistently requires care. Fantasy flourishes signify this, but more to the point, Rose’s inability to walk might be in her head. Written and directed by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (based on the novel by Deborah Levy), Hot Milk is upfront about Rose’s traumatic past, which has left her estranged from her family and divorced from Sofia’s Greek father. The paralysis has worsened over time, with the duo seeking medical advice in Spain from Dr. Gomez (Vincent Perez), who attempts to break through these psychological barriers and force Rose to confront her pain so that she can move on.
If such a thing were to happen, it would make Sofia’s life a lot more pleasant, who is introduced observing a couple on the beach, and it doesn’t seem coincidental that the brief dialogue-free role also goes to Emma Mackey’s stand-in (as the credits have it listed). Her woes aren’t solely related to romance, as she is also unable to finish her anthropology studies while tending to her mother and accompanying her to various appointments.
However, the burning passion for something more is amplified when she comes across the free-spirited, practically too good to be true, Ingrid (Vicky Krieps). She is a mysterious woman with a sad past as well, but there is an instant attraction between the two that makes sense, given their beauty, even if the film struggles to develop them as characters. Instead, it’s a series of scenes that takes on a clichéd trajectory, ultimately ending up hollow. The attraction is there, but there is also little chemistry or intensity to any of it.
That’s the problem with Hot Milk in a nutshell: it aims for meaningful and profound, but feels empty, as if translating the essence of who these characters are from page to screen was an insurmountable hurdle. Various details are revealed about these characters, but little of it is emotional or paints a more complex picture of the characters. Despite a supporting presence, Fiona Shaw is innocent here, making the most of her distraught, controlling, complicated, and messy character, nailing some tough confessional and emotional beats.
It’s already questionable to toss in some visual cues suggesting that a caretaker for the disabled is, in a way, disabled themselves. That’s hammering the point home in a slightly offensive way, regardless of whether or not Rose is faking her condition. Sofia is shackled and unable to live life, which shouldn’t be minimized or invalidated; however, there are less hokey methods to accomplish that. However, that might be asking too much from Hot Milk, an aggressively dull film that culminates in a ludicrous ending, somehow even more confounding and tone-deaf.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
