The Lost Daughter: Maggie Gyllenhaal on How Elena Ferrante’s Writing Inspired Her to Tell This Story

With The Lost Daughter now playing in selected theaters and streaming on Netflix starting December 31, I recently spoke to writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal about making her fantastic feature debut. Based on the novel The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante, the film is about a woman on holiday (Olivia Colman) that becomes obsessed with another woman (Dakota Johnson) and her daughter, who are staying at the same resort with their extended family. Unnerved by their relationship, Colman’s character becomes overwhelmed by her own memories of early motherhood and the choices she made, as well as their consequences. The film also stars Jessie Buckley, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard, Paul Mescal, Dagmara Dominczyk, Alba Rohrwacher, Jack Farthing, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Panos Koronis, Robyn Elwell, Ellie Blake, and Athena Martin. The Lost Daughter was produced by Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler, and Charles Dorfman. During the interview, Gyllenhaal talked about why she wanted to tell this story,