Fiona Shaw is every daughter's nightmare in Hot Milk
We're in southern Spain as Rose (Shaw) and her daughter Sofia (Emma Mackey) travel to a clinic in the hope of a miracle cure.
Rose "can walk perhaps once a year", has diagnoses galore, and observes a daily ritual of a mountain of pills.
"Permanent student" Sofia - Rose's words - is her full-time carer and resents the best years slipping away as she caters to her mother's every need - while often taking her time about it.
As Rose continues her treatment with the enigmatic Dr Gomez (Vincent Perez), Sofia meets free spirit Ingrid (Vicky Krieps) and catches a glimpse of a fresh start.
Stage set, we wonder if Rose will achieve a breakthrough or if Sofia will have to resort to drastic measures to break free.
This adaptation of Deborah Levy's Booker-nominated source novel marks the feature debut of playwright-director Rebecca Lenkiewicz.
She couldn't have cast Hot Milk any better.
In a change from the book, Rose is now an Irish woman, and Shaw brilliantly brings someone we've all encountered to big-screen life.
Both tough and wide-eyed as Sofia, Mackey's work here shows she is one of the most interesting actors of her generation - presence in spades - and so deserving of greater career wattage.
There's excellent support from Vicky Krieps and Vincent Perez as the new arrivals in the lives of Sofia and Rose, and we watch anxiously to see if they will deliver something more than hope or turn out to be chancers.
Place your bets...
With locations in Greece doubling for Spain and production taking place during a heatwave, Hot Milk casts a vibey spell that is temporarily broken with an unnecessary detour that sees Sofia travel to meet her estranged father.
Thankfully, it's brief enough and we get back to the villa and environs to see how things will play out for Sofia and Rose.
That ending, like the drink that gives the film its title, won't be to everyone's taste - some will love its suddenness while others will feel bemused.
But hopefully, everyone will agree that watching Shaw and Mackey at work was worth every cent.
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