Islands Review
A vaguely unsettling, metamorphosing story that almost hits the mark.
There’s a strong sense that something is deeply wrong for the entirety of Islands – even before anything goes awry. The film opens with Tom (Sam Riley) waking up in what appears to be a desert, staggering to his truck and downing half an old bottle of water. It’s a surprise when he starts driving not into an endless sea of sand but towards a luxury resort. He’s a tennis coach there, and he’s late to start his lesson.
At first, Islands seems like it might be a character study of a man in a prolonged state of low-level crisis, then, as though it will be a story about class, the holiday resort location will certainly draw comparisons to The White Lotus and similar eat-the-rich fare. When Anne (Stacy Martin) appears, though, asking Tom to fit in a tennis lesson for her son Anton (Dylan Torrell), the picture gets murkier. Tom is instantly infatuated and goes above and beyond to make her and her family’s stay on the island as good as it can be.
It quickly becomes clear that Anne’s marriage is a difficult one. She and husband Dave (Jack Farthing) always seem on the knife-edge of an argument, with Dave very much painted as the faulty party. Always on his phone, blissfully out of touch with the world around him and painfully entitled, Farthing succeeds in building up a character that you just know would take a business call in the silent carriage of a train. He also vapes, in contrast to Tom’s edgier, more tortured cigarette smoking, a small detail that speaks volumes about both characters. Anne, on the other hand, is quiet and distant, shooting longing, powerful looks at Tom that her husband is too distracted to notice – or care – about.
At this point, it looks like this will be a story about a torrid affair, a woman escaping from her restrictive life to take up with a troubled yet emotionally in-tune (ish) man. But no – before any such philandering can occur, Dave disappears. Suddenly, we’re in a murder mystery, and as Anne and Tom grow closer, questions about their pasts rise to the surface.
The amalgamation of all these different themes adds to the disconcerting nature of the film – you never know what will come next, be it police and politics or romance and crime. It’s ambitious and works well for the most part, but the pacing lags at times. The repetitive nature of each day is effectively conveyed, but occasionally feels a little too monotonous to enjoy. Similarly, the characters’ refusals to allow conflicts to get above a bare simmer can be frustrating – although realistic for anyone who has been on a fraught family holiday.
Most of Islands hinges on the unsaid. We see all the characters in a vacuum, hearing hints of their lives before we meet them, but never getting a handle on exactly who they are. It’s a strategy that keeps the tension up, holding the audience captive as they try to solve the puzzles of who they really are, but keeping the characters at arm’s length makes it hard to really connect with them when they do begin to open up. The island itself is beautiful yet lonely. There’s no real sense of the place beyond the resort and the tourist bars, and Tom’s only friends – a couple who run a camel farm – announce early on that they’re moving away. There’s certainly something to be said about how tourism impacts local economies, but it’s never explored much beyond the direct effect it has on Tom – a non-native himself.
The whole film, really, is about holidays, those few days or weeks you take away from your ‘real’ life. How long can you live a life that isn’t your own, and who is allowed to do that? Who are the people who make that escape happen, and what do they do once you leave? It’s not the best advert for all-inclusive resorts, but Islands is one that will stick with you.
★★★
In cinemas September 12th, on BFI Player from October 27th / Sam Riley, Stacy Martin, Jack Farthing, Dylan Torrell / Dir: Jan-Ole Gerster / BFI / 15
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