Hot Milk (2025) Movie Review: A Tepid Romance Redeemed by a Scalding Mother-Daughter Dynamic 

“Hot Milk” (2025) marks the directorial debut of screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz, the scribe behind the Keira Knightley-starring biopic “Colette,” the Weinstein-based drama “She Said,” and the sizzling tale of forbidden romance featuring Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz, “Disobedience.” Her first feature presents an uneven outing that falters over the rocks of its central romance but pulls itself together when it turns to the topic of generational trauma.

Emma Mackey stars as Sofia, an anthropology post-grad accompanying her mother, Rose (Fiona Shaw) to Spain, where she is set to receive experimental medical treatment. Since Sofia was four, Rose has been largely unable to walk, save for occasional bursts of ambulation, thanks to a condition that traditional medicine cannot diagnose.

While stuck with her mother amid the sweltering Spanish heat, Sofia does what every young Brit abroad must do and begins a summer fling with Ingrid (Vicky Krieps), who quite literally rides into Sofia’s life atop a majestic white stallion on the beach. Ingrid appears to be everything the more muted and reserved Sofia is not—a worldly, polyamorous, carefree spirit who cares little about what others think of her and speaks almost exclusively in ponderous statements. In other words, she is the archetypal summer romance.

It is not the most inspired setup, and Mackey and Krieps lack the chemistry to develop their relationship into something more than some angsty cliches. Their conversations feel stilted, and moments of passion or ferocity between the pair are unearned. Both actors are highly accomplished and individually cut charismatic figures. Yet, when they are thrown together, things become clunky and damp. Where there should be lust, there is artifice and a sense that these two characters are merely pretending to feel an attraction rather than genuinely experiencing one. Things become even worse when Ingrid reveals a dark secret, which is plonked down so inelegantly before the audience as to draw snickers of laughter during the screening I attended.

Fortunately, the film finds a much stronger footing in the relationship between Sofia and her mother, anchored by an outstanding performance from Shaw. Rose exudes an oppressive cloud of negativity and self-pity every time she appears on screen. She is the kind of person who can disrupt the balance of an entire room simply by entering it, armed only with her sharp tongue. Yet, she is also a mercurial figure. At times, she displays razor-sharp instincts. The film opens with a quick-witted observation about the groom’s role in a wedding, while at other moments, she acts confused and babyish. It’s difficult to discern when she is being unfiltered and when she is employing cynical self-defence. This makes her every child’s worst nightmare, a woman capable of delivering the most cutting comments in one moment and then feigning ignorance the next.

Such elusiveness is mirrored in her physical ailments, as it is never clear what is medical, mental, or simply deceitful. Shaw sinks her significant acting chops into this ambiguity, peeling back Rose’s layers and hinting at her past tragedy in scenes that veer between uncomfortable and heart-wrenching. Her personality and past trauma profoundly affect Sofia, despite Rose’s claims that “My daughter is totally unaffected by this.” Sofia envisions herself strapped to her mother’s wheelchair, sinking into the sea, and begins to erupt in fits of anger, which the film could have benefitted from exploring further. It is in this heightened relationship, with all its co-dependence and toxicity, that things start to become interesting.

Rose and Sofia’s relationship sits at an unstable juncture between affection and resentment, duty and incarceration, and intimacy and deception. “Hot Milk,” and Shaw in particular, takes great pleasure in weaving this relationship into darkly humorous and genuinely tragic knots. It embodies Philip Larkin’s famous line “They f*ck you up your mum and dad,” as we witness the cyclical and physical roots of generational trauma. All before Rebecca Lenkiewicz propels us headlong into a breathless final scene that’s all about confronting it.

Read More: 15 Most Complicated Mother-Daughter Relationships in Movies

Hot Milk (2025) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia, Letterboxd
The Cast of Hot Milk (2025) Movie: Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, Vicky Krieps, Vincent Perez, Patsy Ferran, Yann Gael
Hot Milk (2025) Movie Runtime: 1h 32m, Genre: Drama

Where to watch Hot Milk