Sofia and Rose have relocated to Spain to try and cure Rose’s mysterious health condition. While supporting her mother, Sofia falls for the enigmatic Ingrid in Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s directorial debut Hot Milk.
Spanish Fever Dream
by Chris DrewHot Milk
1.0 out of 5.0 stars
CAUTION: Here be spoilers
Rose (Fiona Shaw, Ammonite) and Sofia (Emma Mackay, Emily) have a close mother-daughter relationship, but this is severely tested with Rose’s demanding nature and reliance on Sofia who tries hard to keep her cool and remain patient.
The pair have moved to the Spanish coast with the hope of solving the mystery of a condition which took Sofia’s ability to walk when she was four.
The assessment process from unconventional Dr Gomez (Vincent Perez, At Eternity’s Gate) involves a whole host of varied questions – to both Sofia and Rose – which pushes Rose close to the edge.
An underlying question is whether Rose is fabricating the whole condition: frustratingly later possible evidence of this is not unpacked. This culminates in a wild and memorable final scene which, typically, is left unresolved.
One day, when Sofia is on the beach, Ingrid (Vicky Krips, Phantom Thread) suddenly appears on a horse. There is a clear attraction between the pair and over a handful of subsequent scenes they soon develop a connection.
However, the relationship feels continually underdeveloped. More than once Sofia witnesses Ingrid kissing men which is unexplored, despite passed disgruntled looks from Sofia. So it is slightly baffling when Sofia tells her “Of course I love you”.
Indeed, it is possible to question whether Ingrid is in fact a figment of Sofia’s imagination; in the one scene Rose and Ingrid share, Rose pays Ingrid absolutely no interest and does not ask who she is.
In two separate stories, told by Rose and Ingrid, we hear about two different people who come back from the dead. This is perhaps intended to draw a parallel between the women in Sofia’s life.
The wheels come off in the third act with some unexplained twists and turns almost played for laughs. In one wordless scene Sofia inexplicably goes to the lifeguard tower to have a drink with the local lifeguard.
Later Sofia suddenly starts leaving Rose for extended periods of time. First to stay with Ingrid and then, abruptly, to visit her father in Greece. While an indicator of her growing need for independence from Rose, the repercussions are not explored.
Mackay is typically strong effectively portraying Sofia’s simmering frustration with Rose. It is riveting later on when she does eventually snap, although it is not completely clear if some of these scenes are in reality or in Sofia’s head.
Shaw gives a committed performance as Rose, but her histrionics are so extreme that the character’s mood swings seem unintentionally comical.
Worst of all is the bewildering waste of the superbly talented Krieps; bohemian Ingrid is both frustrating and frustratingly underwritten.
While there are some interesting ideas and themes evident in Hot Milk, it feels like an early draft of a screenplay which should have gone through multiple revisions before the cameras started to roll.
Hot Milk screened at the 2025 BFI Flare Festival.
