Welcome to the Moel Famau hotel. Ping-ponging between the palpably real and spectral, director and writer Joanna Hogg gives us a mother-daughter ghost story starring Tilda Swinton and… Tilda Swinton. The Eternal Daughter follows an artist (Swinton) and her elderly mother (Swinton) as they return to a former family home (now a haunted hotel of sorts) and confront long-buried secrets.
Hogg presents us with an exploration of parental relationships and the things we leave behind. Thanks to childhood favorite The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories, Hogg has always been drawn to spectral stories and decided to combine a naturalistic mother-daughter story she’d been working on with her desire to dive into the realm of supernatural stories.
Swinton says, “Part of what the story touches on is the way our parents, particularly our mothers, have the power to turn us, no matter our age, into children again, which seems to work something like a magic spell.”
Check out this exclusive clip below, as Swinton (the daughter version) creeps through the old hotel, which properly creaks and groans every step of the way.
Check out our interview with director Joanna Hogg. The Eternal Daughter is now playing in theaters and on demand.
