Reviews

One has to assume 'Saltburn' was conceived as subversive satire or parody, but it's difficult to discern which it might be, since it possesses minimal sarcasm and humor. The copycat plot is derived from several sources - it initially follows the 'Brideshead Revisited' blueprint, relating how socially-challenged working class undergraduate Oliver Quick becomes friends with upper crust fellow collegian Felix at Oxford University. After a fairly shallow acquaintance, he's invited to spend the summer vacation with the latter's family at their stately home, Saltburn.

The invitation is a mystery since Oliver is devoid of wit or allure, and upon arrival he's treated with universal condescension. The aristocratic clan are portrayed as eccentrics who would fit more comfortably in a farce - and they seem especially out of place when the story gallops off towards the territory of 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' and 'Talented Mr Ripley'. Oliver suddenly transforms from awkward dork into master manipulator - and it's another mystery how he accomplishes this, since he has no means to influence anybody. The other characters lack credibility in a similar way - and since everyone is tiresome and unpleasant, it's hard to maintain interest as the shadows deepen. Despite attempts to shock with some gratuitously distasteful episodes - concluding with a muddy bout of virtual necrophilia - this protracted tale becomes tedious long before its end.

A middle class couple leave NYC with their two teenage kids to stay in a luxurious Long Island beach house for a weekend getaway. Phone, TV and internet stop functioning shortly after their arrival, and when the family try to relax by the ocean a huge oil tanker inexplicably runs itself aground on the beach. Late that night the home's affluent African-American owner and his college-age daughter arrive seeking refuge from societal disintegration in Manhattan, and a prickly introduction follows before the ill-matched group falls asleep uneasily under the same roof.

Morning brings a truce, but no illumination about the nature of the crisis. The vacationers stay on as numerous disturbing incidents demonstrate all is not well with the world - airliners crash out of clear blue skies, wrecked cars block the highways, animals behave strangely, loud noises blare and the teenage son falls ill. Theories are proposed that the mayhem might be caused by hostile foreigners or native extremists, but nothing is certain, and the story never develops much of an arc.

The cast manages to keep the project afloat until all the bizarre happenings start undermining credulity. The various disasters have little rationality behind them, and the absence of other human beings within sight of the city seems implausible. Once belief has been lost, the movie shows how a suspenseful mystery about world-changing events can turn into a bit of a bore. As the film sputters out of existence, it feels like it might have been conceived as a pilot for a TV series. The deeply unsatisfying conclusion leaves the impression that the writers were as clueless as their characters about the catastrophe which they'd invented.

Fine acting keeps 'The Lost Daughter' afloat, but the screenplay, direction and editing are so invested in keeping the story mysterious that it's almost impossible to decipher what's going on while watching it. A series of red herrings and opaque scenes are carefully constructed to maintain an enigmatic facade - resulting in a narrative that appears inconsequential.

The story begins with middle-aged professor Leda arriving at a Greek resort for a solitary working vacation. She appears brusque and disconnected from other people, and telephone calls indicate she's somewhat estranged from her two absent daughters. While taking breaks from her research, she observes an extended American family at the beach. Flashbacks of Leda's life as a young mother in England flesh out her earlier life. She's depicted going through stressful times combining career with parental duties. At a conference, she starts an affair with an American academic, and subsequently leaves her husband and children.

Back in Greece, a young girl belonging to the American family wanders off, and Leda helps them search for her. During this incident, a flashback shows Leda had also experienced one of her own daughters going missing at a beach. Leda finds the lost girl and reunites her with the family - but impulsively steals the child's favorite doll in the confusion. The rescue leads to a connection with the child's mother Nina, who is having similar motherhood struggles to Leda's in the past, and is also having an affair behind her husband's back. Complications from this affair and Leda's confession about her theft of the doll bring about an altercation, and Nina stabs Leda in the stomach with a hat pin just prior to Leda's departure from the resort. As she drives away, Leda begins losing consciousness in her car and collapses on a roadside beach, with the final scene suggesting she has passed away at the water's edge. Piecing together the puzzle, it seems clear Leda's extra-marital affair had angered her daughters, and that one of them had drowned while in her custody - and her own dead child is the "lost daughter" of the film's title.