the lost daughter also premiered at the venice film festival and got its first time director, maggie gyllenhaal, for best screenplay award. this is an adaptation of eleanor ferranti's novel starring 0livia colman, a nuanced portrait of the complexities of motherhood. in this story, a woman eventually leaves her children. i want women who maybe would never pick up an eleanor ferranti novel, that's not their thing, to still be able to take in what she offered me. some of the year's festival highlights are streaming releases, but they will also show in cinemas. 2021's return of the spectacle of cinema was something film fans could celebrate, and the new knowledge that such events are not always guaranteed. some of the very best films that