Cordelia, Daughter of the Sea

Cordelia, Daughter of the Sea is like a motion portrait. It's like a kind of novelty photoshoot you'd set up with your family by hiring a professional photographer while wearing retro costumes for fun. It's about as meaningful as that.

The Director seems to have a preoccupation with retro aesthetics and costumes. This seems to be an example of nostalgia for a time not lived in, as the director is rather young and could not possibly remember the era she's depicting. We can therefore assume that the film's aesthetic is not dictated by anything personally or emotionally honest, but a rather vapid expression of what the internet-age finds "novel", "trendy", or even "Arthouse". There is no justification for the period setting. It is simply a product of the filmmakers' apparent superficial obsession with retro aesthetics.

More egregiously, there's little justification for the "plot", either. The twist at the end of the film is a gimmick by definition, because it doesn't add anything new. It doesn't provoke any interesting ideas about fathers and daughters, what came before the twist remains unchanged. The father admitting that he won't truly understand his daughter is the only attempt at something of substance, but the exploration of this idea is razor thin. This idea comes before the twist, which means the twist is simply a device used to grab your attention (the definition of a gimmick).

The best you can say about this film is that it's pretty well shot. The compositions are pleasing to the eye and the natural lighting is beautiful yet not overly distracting. When it comes to the film's aesthetic (in the true sense of the term), thematic, and formal qualities, there's much to be desired.