COW

UK 2021, 93 min Director Andrea Arnold

There’s a depth and beauty in the soulful eyes of Luma, an English dairy cow, whose life and times provide the subject for Andrea Arnold’s first foray into nonfiction filmmaking. Arnold is a director whose works have been distinguished by exploration and observation of character; films like Fish Tank and American Honey confirmed the originality of her voice and vision, making her a Cannes Film Festival favorite. With Cow, Arnold again finds the heart of her subject, as she follows Luma up close and personal through birthing, milking, mating, all the circumstances that make up the life cycle of a working animal. It’s a revelation, centering the animal’s perspective and rarely opening to language—just the occasional words from the farmers offscreen. The film is like rural social realism; Arnold lets her powerful images speak for themselves and to us, opening the door to empathy. It’s a profound and moving journey. –Zoë Elton