After “American Honey” won the Jury Prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, Andrea Arnold launched from a director of note to one of England’s premiere cinematic talents. Since then, however, Arnold’s taken a pivot to the small screen. She directed the entire second season of HBO’s “Big Little Lies” and also did a bunch of episodes for Amazon Prime’s “Transparent” and Netflix’s “I Love Dick.”
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Now, audiences finally get to see Arnold’s cinematic return that premiered at Cannes last summer. And “Cow” isn’t Arnold’s fifth film; it’s also her documentary debut. Shot over several years, the film follows a cow called Luma and her life at Park Farm in Kent, England. “Cow” is a passion project of sorts for Arnold, and given the unanimously positive response it received at Cannes, it looks like her patience to complete it has paid off.
Here’s the film’s official synopsis:
First screened at the Cannes Film Festival, celebrated filmmaker Andrea Arnold’s (American Honey, Fish Tank) fifth feature—and documentary debut—turns its lens towards a dairy cow named Luma residing on an English cattle farm. As she follows Luma through birthing, milking, mating, and all the circumstances that make up the life cycle of this working animal, we see both the beauty and the challenges of her life. Centering on Luma’s perspective and rarely opening to language, Arnold lets her powerful images speak for themselves—and to us—opening the door to empathy. It’s a visceral and profound journey that asks us to acknowledge her great services and to contemplate our own relationship to the natural world.
No word yet on Arnold’s future movie plans, but “Cow” should keep audiences busy in the meantime. Catch the film when it comes to theaters and VOD on April 8, courtesy of MUBI and IFC Films. View the trailer below.