
Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, The Last Day unfolds over a single summer day in New York, where the lives of two mothers briefly entwine. Julia, a writer and mother, is unsettled by creative stagnation, unprocessed grief, and the approach of her daughter’s adolescence. An unexpected encounter with Taylor—a labor and delivery nurse in the midst of a postpartum crisis—pushes Julia to reconsider the life she has built, and whether she can rediscover herself within it.
The Last Day is directed by Rachel Rose which is her directorial debut.
The Last Day was the final film I watched for this year’s Tribeca Film Festival and it’s a solid film to end on. There are definitely some frustrating moments that the film opts to not really elaborate on, however between the performances, the atmosphere and the many swings the film makes adds up to a quite interesting experience.
The performances are what really make the film, Alicia Vikander gives a strong performance that luckily she’s able to fully go all out with. It’s refreshing to see Vikander tackle a script that actually allows her to use her acting talent because there are some incredibly striking moments here that really remind you of just how excellent she really is. The scene with Wagner Moura (his only scene) during the film’s first act is a standout, Vikander and Moura bouncing off of each other dialogue wise is truly fascinating to watch and leaves the viewer thinking of this scene in particular.
What Victoria Pedretti does here is outstanding, even if the film largely does not focus on Taylor’s (played by Victoria Pedretti) story, the scenes that we do get are quite fantastic and show just how fantastic Pedretti is as an actress. She captures the dark side of motherhood, there’s many scenes of Taylor just breaking down. Trying medication after medication, Taylor clearly loving her kids but can’t make it through the day it’s all there that really makes the viewer feel for Taylor as a character. Pedretti’s facial acting and body language is also quite fantastic here, you can see the struggle on her face and her eyes it’s hard to watch at times yet it really adds to the film.
I do think the compare and contrast element of Julia (played by Alicia Vikander) and Taylor’s stories is interesting although I do wish we got to see a lot more of Taylor’s. While Vikander does a great job as Julia and the story being told is solid, it does not have the connection that Taylor’s story has, there are interesting ideas in Julia’s story that are presented but the film does not quite land them when it comes to execution. With that being said there are still powerful moments here that go the long way, the film’s style adds a few weights into the mix that help the film stand out.
Overall The Last Day is an interesting one, not every single part of it works. But for the most part it’s a pretty solid film with some excellent performances that make the film worth experiencing.
The Last Day currently has no release date.
7/10 B








