A woman searches for herself abroad in Lost Girls & Love Hotels, the latest from director William Olsson.
Margaret is set up comfortably in Tokyo, but she doesn’t have many prospects. She teaches English to flight attendants during the day and peruses bars and local men at night. All of it is fleeting and temporary. None of it will lead anywhere. That is until she meets an alluring man that actually sticks around, and suddenly she is forced to consider long-term plans.
This tale of wayward inertia and how to move on from it is adapted from the novel of the same name. It’s potentially subtle material, so luckily they retained book author Catherine Hanrahan to convert it into a screenplay. She should know better than anyone how to distill the book to its essence, which bodes well for the adaptation. What puts it on less firm ground is Olsson, whose directing career has been spotty at best. This is only his fourth feature in 15 years, and most were met with a less than enthusiastic response.
At least there’s a steady presence in front of the camera, as Alexandra Daddario plays the adrift Margaret. Now I know, you may not immediately think of her as a top tier actress, but she’s been mixing in smaller, impressive performances with her blockbuster work for a while now. Her appearances in things like True Detective and We Have Always Lived in the Castle hints at a depth she rarely gets to show off. This should give her a chance to really showcase her acting chops if the film around her holds up.
Lost Girls and Love Hotels is directed by William Olsson and stars Alexandra Daddario, Takehiro Hira, and Carice van Houten. It will be released in theaters and on VOD in the US on September 18th, 2020. Further release dates are not currently known.
Will you check this one out? Let us know in the comments!
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.