Hot Milk (2025), Dir Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Mubi, mac Birmingham, 4☆☆☆☆. Review: Matthew Alicoon.

Hot Milk (2025), Dir Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Mubi, mac Birmingham,

4☆☆☆☆. Review: Matthew Alicoon.

Running Time: 93 Minutes

“An enigmatic mediation into fractured individuals, without fully opening the frame.”

Based on the 2016 novel by Deborah Levy, Hot Milk follows a mother (Fiona Shaw) and a daughter (Emma Mackey) who travel to the Spanish coast in an attempt to find a cure for the mother’s illness. Across the film, we see the daughter grappling with her own identity as she meets a mysterious traveller (Vicky Krieps)

On the surface Hot Milk may seem a sparse, almost elusive experience where the narrative purposefulness may be questioned. However, Rebecca Lenkiewcz in her directorial debut along with writing the screenplay uses the sparseness as her greatest defence. Lenkiewcz uses the landscape as an embodiment for our lead character’s (Sofia) inner life, with a terrain that externalises her emotions with an exquisite and grounded precision. Recurring waves and feet tapping resonate as visual motifs. It is a film that instinctively takes its time, sketching a fascinatingly fractured mother-daughter relationship between Sofia (Daughter) and Rose (Mother). The dialogue by Lenkiewcz feels naturalist and incredibly literate, balancing the delicate disconnect throughout. One of the best moments is when Rose asks Sofia  “What would you do if I could walk” and Sofia responds, “Be Happy”, emphasising its emotional core through the subtlest of dialogue.

What is striking about Hot Milk is that there is a defiance in delivering complete character exposition. Instead, the film masterfully gives you glimpses and windows into the frictions and psychological impasses, through never feeling comprehensively resolved. This is a mode of storytelling that is incredibly enigmatic, as it makes you consider the gaps of narrative ambiguities rather than have everything fully reformed with explanation. between characters but never plays its hand and shows you the full side of things.

Emma Mackey (Sofia) embodies a magnetic overwhelming sense of rage,  brilliantly conveying a volatile intensity that seamlessly blends into tones of calmness and chaos. Fiona Shaw’s (Rose) inner turmoil is stunningly conveyed, striking a haunting portrait of someone on the verge of psychologically collapsing. I thought the power struggle was something Mackey and Shaw conveyed realistically, never feeling overplayed. Vicky Krieps (Ingrid) brings a hypnotic and spectral presence with her character. Krieps flourishes with Mackey, as both characters have two similar mindsets.

The question of what is real and what is not, is critical throughout Hot milk. However, going back to Lenkiewicz’s screenplay enhances its layered intelligent. This a film thar resists declarative clarity, offering windows into memory, trauma, and spiralling out of control. The film feels multifaceted with its layering such as the duration and inner depth of the mother-daughter conflict. As a viewer, it is one of the rare experiences you feel drawn into the interpretive process, questioning how long characters’ trauma has been going on for. Cinematographers Christopher Blauvelt and Si Bell embody the environment of the Spanish coast.

Where I think Hot Milk will be the most divisive is the ending, as it does leave openly ambiguous. Its abruptness almost feels like it could further challenge your perceptions of certain aspects in the film already. An additional moment of closure may have sustained the dramatic harmony to the film.

Hot Milk is a film that is less concerned with narrative clarity. However, it is a piece that carries ambitiousness requiring you to be actively engaged throughout. It is truly a film about fractured and broken individuals, where the performances, dialogue and landscape amalgamate into a subtle yet deeply impacting piece of cinema.

Cast

Emma Mackey as Sofia

Vicky Krieps as Ingrid

Fiona Shaw as Rose

Vincent Perez as Dr. Gomez

Patsy Ferran as Julietta

Yann Gael as Matthew

Crew

Director - Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Screenwriter - Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Producers – Christine Langan, Kate Glover & Giorgos Karnavas

Cinematographers – Christopher Blauvelt & Si Bell

Editor – Mark Towns

Music – Matthew Herbert, The Heat Inc