'Hot Milk' simmers in the Spanish sun

Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw star in hazy psychological drama.

If you’re bummed that you didn’t get to take that trip to Spain this summer, Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s “Hot Milk” might be of some help. The rocky beaches and picturesque villages of the Spanish coast may look inviting as ever, but everybody in the psychological drama is having such a terrible time that you won’t experience any FOMO.

Sofia (Emma Mackey) and her mother Rose (Fiona Shaw) have rented a house on the coast, but it’s hard to call their stay a vacation. Rose is suffering from a mysterious chronic illness that leaves her unable to walk, and relies on Sofia for her every need and whim. Sofia is a grad school dropout who has nothing better to do than to take care of her mother.

The pair are in Spain seeking a miracle cure from a doctor (Vincent Perez), who thinks Rose’s condition may be more psychological than physical. Rose rebels against this diagnosis, but Sofia begins to wonder if her mother has been faking her illness all these years.

Shaw, always welcome in a supporting role (“Andor,” “True Detective: Night Country”), makes the most of a co-lead role here, playing a woman so immersed in trauma and pain that she literally cannot conceive of anything else. She’s quick to criticize her daughter in the guise of providing helpful advice, and Sofia chafes at being at her mother’s beck and call.

Lenkiewicz shoots Mackey’s face in long, wordless closeups so we can see the resentments roiling inside her. Occasionally, a quick flash of a surreal image illustrates Sofia’s mood, such as an image of Sofia sitting in her mother’s wheelchair at the bottom of the ocean.

Their co-dependent relationship is upended between mother and daughter when Sofia starts a dalliance with Ingrid (Vicky Krieps of “Phantom Thread”), a free-spirited German artist she first sees riding a horse along the beach. Their tender relationship is a breath of fresh air after the claustrophobic tension of Sofia and Rose’s summer house.

Krieps is such a wonderful actress that she feels underused here, more of a symbol of the freedom Sofia yearns for than a real person. As Rose comes to resent the time that Sofia is spending with Ingrid, the three women seem destined to be on a collision course with each other.

Adapted from the novel by Deborah Levy, “Hot Milk” seems inspired by elliptical ‘60s arthouse movies, especially Michelangelo Antonioni’s “L’Avventura,” which leave much unsaid and much unexplained. We never really get answers about what’s going on with Rose, and the final shot deliberately ends the film on an unresolved note.

That may understandably frustrate some viewers, but I found myself vibing with the hazy, fragmented tone of the film. This is the debut feature as a director for Lenkiewicz, a playwright and screenwriter who has written several fine movies (“She Said,” “Ida”) that were much more straightforward in their narrative structure.

“Hot Milk” feels like a nervy leap into the unknown, and if it doesn’t quite get all the way where it’s going, there’s something enticing about the attempt.

“Hot Milk” is now in theaters. In Madison, it’s playing at AMC Fitchburg 18.