The Lost Daughter: Maggie Gyllenhaal directs new Elena Ferrante adaptation

The Italian author Elena Ferrante is one of the most elusive in modern literature; even that name is a pseudonym. But her anonymity only sparks more adoration and intrigue for her novels (My Brilliant Friend among them), which take an absorbing female and feministic perspective – sparing no critical feelings.

It’s probably part of the reason why Oscar-nominated actor Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Kindergarten Teacher) wrote a letter to Ferrante, asking to write and direct the author's fourth novel The Lost Daughter. Ferrante approved and was delighted that a female creative is at the helm – unlike the series adaptation of My Brilliant Friend, mostly directed by Saverio Costanzo.

In a piece for The Guardian, Ferrante remarks, ‘It’s important for me – for [Gyllenhaal], for all women – that her work be hers and turn out well. We’ve been inside the male cage for too long – and now that that cage is collapsing, a woman artist has to be absolutely autonomous.’

Here’s everything we know about the upcoming adaptation.

What’s the story of The Lost Daughter?

Compared to the quartet of Neapolitan Novels, The Lost Daughter is a considerably smaller work. At 160 pages, this gives Gyllenhaal plenty of space for her film to breathe. The story follows Leda, a divorced, middle-aged college professor, who goes on holiday to Italy after her kids move to Canada with their dad. She learns to revel in this new isolation.

She becomes engrossed in the lives of a family she sees on the beach, particularly in the relationship between the mother, Nina, and her daughter. It reminds Leda of her own early motherhood and the difficult, unconventional choices she made. And similar to a plot in My Brilliant Friend, The Lost Daughter also revolves around a missing doll, which ignites all this nostalgia.

Olivia Colman in The Crown. Photo: Netflix

Who’s in The Lost Daughter cast?

Leda is being played by Olivia Colman, who continues to straddle work on large and small screens. She finished her unforgettable role as Queen Elizabeth in The Crown last year, before starring alongside Anthony Hopkins in The Father.

The always absorbing Jessie Buckley, playing a younger Leda, is equally mobile. She's starred in the latest season of Fargo, the excellent Charlie Kaufman movie I’m Thinking of Ending Things, and the recent National Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet.

Jessie Buckley in I'm Thinking of Ending Things. Photo: Netflix

Dakota Johnson (Persuasion, Suspiria) stars as the mother Nina, and The Haunting of Hill House actor Oliver Jackson-Cohen will play Toni. Recent Bafta-winner Paul Mescal, who debuted as Connell in Normal People, stars as Will.

Ed Harris (Westworld), Jack Farthing (Love Wedding Repeat, Poldark), Peter Sarsgaard (Mr. Jones), Dagmara Dominczyk (Succession, The Assistant), and Alba Rohrwacher (My Brilliant Friend) will also be starring.

Dakota Johnson in Black Mass. Photo: Sky/Warner Bros.

What’s The Lost Daughter release date?

Covid permitting, The Lost Daughter will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 7 January 2022.