If I had a nickel for every time Fiona Shaw (the Harry Potter film franchise, The Black Dahlia, True Blood Season 4, Channel Zero Season 1, Andor Season 1, Echo Valley) was the best part of a nearly unwatchable 2025 film released in June featuring a sizeable queer text, then I would have two nickels. That isn’t a lot, but it’s really weird that it happened twice. After the head-scratching disaster that was Michael Pearce and Brad Ingelsby’s Echo Valley, one would have hoped that Shaw’s next role, in Hot Milk, which had its world premiere at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, could have at least sparked some interesting discussions based on the themes writer/director Rebecca Lenkiewicz explores in her feature directorial debut.
Discussion
Unfortunately, Lenkiewicz seems uninterested in developing anything past the introductory point, as she sets up a fractured mother/daughter relationship between Sofia (Emma Mackey) and Rose (Shaw). At first, the artful visuals of cinematographers Christopher Blauvelt and Si Bell envelop us in the lush landscapes of Almeria and give the movie an almost otherworldly quality as it continuously blurs the lines between dreamlike, Buñuel-lite surrealism and the harsh reality of the present Sofia lives in.
Our protagonist is currently on leave from her anthropology doctorate, taking care of her ailing mother, who has traveled to Spain to visit Dr. Gómez (Vincent Perez), an unconventional practitioner who may have a solution for Rose’s mystery illness, which put her in a wheelchair ever since her daughter was four years old. Rose cannot walk, but Dr. Gómez thinks her limiting beliefs, likely trauma from her past, are preventing her from achieving the goal of coming out of that wheelchair and walking. He continuously tests her through unconventional methods, which further fracture the already thin relationship she has with her daughter.
Sofia and Rose
Meanwhile, Sofia becomes infatuated with a woman named Ingrid (Vicky Krieps), whom she meets on the beach, riding a horse on a hot, sunny day… and the two begin to develop a romantic relationship together? It’s not really clear, nor does it feel like an integral part of Sofia’s quest for emancipation, as she begins to disconnect from her mother’s problems and attempts to figure out what she truly wants in her youthful life. As Rose tries to get better and Sofia falls in love with a woman who radiates freedom and possesses a rebellious spirit, the two begin to notice cracks in each other, leading to a finale that should theoretically make sense, considering the telegraphed emotional beats that Lenkiewicz plays with but doesn’t at all impact when it ultimately cuts to black and leaves us to ponder what we have just seen.
Lenkiewicz attempts to connect the three storylines (the quack-or-not doctor helping Rose out of her predicament; Rose and Sofia’s broken relationship; and the burgeoning free love Sofia has with Ingrid) with footage of anthropological documentaries, interspersed as transitions from one scene to the next, but none of these moments feel as if they actively communicate within the film’s diegesis, or add some texture to our rumination of Blauvelt and Bell’s images. It feels so empty in its presentation of ideas that were explored by better, more averse filmmakers than how Lenkiewicz introduces her characters and themes, which she never actively works on or develops compellingly throughout her 94-minute runtime.
Final Thoughts on Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk
The result is a mind-numbingly stultifying affair that grows more frustrating as it progresses, even if Mackey remains a constantly alluring presence and Shaw completely steals the spotlight away from everyone. She is a consummate actress, a once-in-a-generation talent who has always been the best part of everything she has contributed to, whether bit parts in several Harry Potter installments, a scene-stealing turn in the first season of Andor, or lesser-known roles that are equally as impactful, such as in Ammonite and Colette (Lenkiewicz also co-wrote the latter).
Shaw makes the most out of her Hot Milk character and is the sole reason why anyone should bother sitting through such a thunderously dull film like this one. She holds our breath in every scene where Rose experiences massive pain, both physically and psychologically. In the final scene, she reminds us why she has always been an actor whom we always look forward to seeing on the big screen, whether playing a small or a significant role. If only the film around her performance was any good, but she at least comes out of Hot Milk unscathed, while Mackey and Krieps unfortunately add a stain on their otherwise impressive resume…
1.5/5 stars
Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk is now playing in theaters!
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You can also judge for yourself if this film adaptation is up your alley by picking up a physical copy of Deborah Levy’s 2016 novel of the same name and comparing it with Lenkiewicz’s film!
