Hot Milk Review
Hot Milk (2025) Film Review, a movie directed by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, written by Deborah Levy and Rebecca Lenkiewicz and starring Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, Vicky Krieps, Patsy Ferran, Yann Gael, Electra Sarri, Yorgos Tsiantoulas, Vincent Perez, Nikos Kardonis, Vasilis Tsigristaris, Dimitris Oikonomidis, Vangelis Mourikis and Korina Gougouli.
There are three central characters showcased in daring filmmaker Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s disturbing and fascinating new drama, Hot Milk. This film sets itself primarily on the Spanish coast as a mother and daughter have come there in order to help the mom cope with (and possibly find a cure for) a disease that is affecting her ability to function properly. Though the mom has difficulty walking, and is thus the central focus of the film, the movie shifts attention from the mother at times to center on the character of the daughter and a new woman in her life as the newly formed pair engages in a torrid affair together.
Emma Mackey serves as the daughter, Sofia, while Fiona Shaw plays the mother, Rose. These are two of the finest actresses working today so there’s no question that their scenes together will gel well. It is the incomparable Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread, Corsage), however, as Sofia’s mysterious love interest, Ingrid, who steals the film. There are steamy scenes between Sofia and Ingrid that get a little more deep when Ingrid confesses to Sofia that she’s killed someone. In the interim, Rose says she had a sister who she didn’t know well and the movie circles around that assumed scenario until the ending reveals a bit of ambiguity and a tad of certainty regarding the major details surrounding not only who Ingrid “killed” but also who Rose’s sister really was.
Mackey is much of the show here in a part that the actress takes on head first, much like the way her character in the film approaches her own life. Sofia is a student and Rose challenges her to find meaning in life and embrace her potential. However, Rose, herself, is at a standstill as she is helped along by a thorough care provider, Gomez (Vincent Perez). Yann Gael plays Matty, a driver who is also a musician that associates with the quintessential enigma that is Ingrid. Is Ingrid having an affair with Matty or serious about her time with Sofia? At one point, Ingrid offers to fly Sofia to be with her during holidays which suggests that Ingrid has passions towards Sofia that know few boundaries.
Hot Milk has come under fire for its controversial ending. It’s the elephant in the room in regards to this particular film. There is some ambiguity in the ending, but it’s clear that Lenkiewicz is driving home points about how Rose has given up on life in order to dwell on her own physical ailments whereas Sofia is embracing her very existence and taking risks that challenge her and frustrate her, simultaneously. What is life without effort and risk and what is existence without pain, sorrow and the desire to push ahead for the greater good? Look, the ending is far from perfect, but the questions this movie raises are valid ones and the performances drive home the themes of the picture rather effectively.
Emma Mackey scratches the surface of who Sofia truly is in the beginning of the movie until Mackey’s character learns some life lessons through her interaction with the wild and free-spirited Ingrid. Mackey and Krieps steam up the screen in one of the most passionate recent on-screen connections. If only the movie did Krieps’ character more justice and dug deeper inside her past, present and future. Shaw is heartbreaking in the role of the physically impaired Rose who learns through key plot developments that her daughter is more complex than Rose gives her credit for.
Although Hot Milk has a lot of mystery and ambiguity to it, the film plays more like a character study than a thriller. This film isn’t about its revelations. Instead, Hot Milk makes the viewer ponder whether the revelations are even based on a definitive reality to begin with. Focused on the events that occur throughout the picture and running a brisk 93-minutes, this movie could frustrate and move viewers in equal measures thanks to the performances. Mackey gets her characterization on the money as questions arise as to whether or not Ingrid and Rose are up to her intellectual level. Is Sofia thinking too hard about life or are her mom and new lover not taking things in their lives seriously enough?
While Hot Milk features a great cast and terrifically mounted scenes, it is ultimately a bit slight in a few respects and seems to have bitten off more than it could chew. Characters are left lost in the shuffle and the plot plays out in a way that won’t offer closure to more demanding moviegoers. However, for braver audiences unafraid of taking huge leaps of faith to think more, Hot Milk offers a serious dilemma in regards to its main characters’ situations. When is the right time to embrace life and when is it too late? Luckily for some, this film offers thought-provoking answers that, unfortunately, won’t please all mainstream audiences.
Hot Milk asks the ages-old existential question of whether it is better to live while exploring every ambiguous possibility life has to offer or is it more fruitful to just exist, maintain the status quo and stay alive for the sake of living a safe (but unfulfilled) life? Then, the movie throws in the concept of that second possibility having a ticking clock as evidenced by Shaw’s grieving Rose. Hot Milk will keep viewers riveted, but probably doesn’t have all the safe answers audiences may want to hear, for better or worse.
Rating: 6.5/10
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