Critic Reviews

Rarely has maternal trauma been so well-dramatized on the big screen with zest, humor, and genuine appreciation of the ambivalence baked into these relationships.

This is slippery, subversive storytelling that’s very hard to get any firm grasp on – but that is one of its main pleasures.

The isolation of the setting, the elliptical dialogue, the inserts of apparently archival anthropological images, and a spare score, sometimes just one sustained note, all give “Hot Milk” a dreamlike quality, the kind of dreams that, at least while we’re dreaming, make more sense than reality.

The fierce sinew of Shaw’s performance gives the film some shape and keeps it grounded. Mackey and Krieps, both formidable performers, give the film their presence and force.

Hot Milk lacks some of the lush, heady symbolism of the book, and opts for a less teasingly ambiguous approach to the storytelling. Mackey, however, impresses, as a woman driven to distraction by the neediness and manipulation of those around her.

It looks good, it sounds good, the actors are giving it their all, and yet… it never properly gels.

Hot Milk dribbles when it should feel crisper, less torpid, but that’s perhaps to match the inner decay of everyone onscreen, and the metastasis of the most interminable vacation ever known.

The film unfolds in a dreamy, liminal place in Sofia’s personal evolution, but lacks the tangible sense of vicariously experiencing it ourselves — a shame, since it’s a splendid location in which to be doing such intensive self-healing.

A startling beauty who radiates both intelligence and a teenager-like surliness, Mackey is Hot Milk’s main point of interest and its stable anchor. She makes a meal of the scraps meted out about Sofia’s backstory, her inner thoughts, and motivations – which is what makes the film’s final moments so rankling.

The sluggish pacing and lack of specific characterization make it feel longer than its hour-and-a-half runtime, though the strong performances and beautiful cinematography are just enough to keep it from ever becoming a total slog.