ISLANDS
(director/writer: Jan-Ole Gerster; screenwriters: Blaz Kutin, Lawrie Doran, story by Jan-Ole Gerster; cinematographer: Juan Sarmiento G.; editor: Antje Zynga; music: Dascha Dauenhauer; cast: Stacy Martin (Anne Maguire), Sam Riley (Tom), Jack Farthing (Dave), Pep Ambros (Jorge), Ramiro Blas (Mazo), Agnes Lindstrom Boimgren (Janis), Bruna Cusí (Maria), Ahmed Boulane (Raik, The Farmer), Fatima Adoum (Amina), Dylan Torrell (Anton); Runtime: 123; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Albert Morera; DFFF/Leonine Studios; 2025-Germany-in English, Spanish)
“Tennis noir thriller.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
German filmmaker Jan-Ole Gerster (“A Coffee in Berlin”/”Lara”), in his first English-speaking film, craftily directs this European tennis noir thriller that’s set at a chic holiday resort. Gerster bases the Patricia Highsmith-like thriller on his story that he co-scripted with Blaz Kutin and Lawrie Doran.
For the last ten years the aimless and unhappy dissolute Brit ex-pat Tom (Sam Riley), nicknamed “Ace,” has been the hotel tennis teacher in Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, at a luxury hotel specializing in offering its clientele vacation package deals. He’s a lady’s man, a boozer and a druggie, who every morning wakes up hungover either in his car or at the beach or at the hotel pool, with no memory of what he did that night. He’s known affectionately by the hotel crowd for once playing on the hotel court with the great pro legend Rafael Nadal and giving him a good game (a fictional game).
Tom is rather curious about the new guests, the stylish Brit middle-class couple of Anne (Stacy Martin) and her jerky hubby Dave (Jack Farthing), who hire him to give lessons to their 7-year-old son Anton (Dylan Torrell).
Tom shows them around the island by car, where they dine with his Moroccan farmer friends (Ahmed Boulane & Fatima Adoum), as he takes an interest in Anne, a former TV soap opera star. After dinner Anne returns to her room and Tom goes to a club for drinks with Dave. Things turn strangely dark when Dave mysteriously vanishes after out with Sam, as Sam wakes up in the morning by the pool not remembering a thing about the night.
The Spanish-speaking police chief (Pep Ambros) investigates. When nothing turns up, the hard-nosed detective Mazo (Ramiro Blas) asks Anne tough questions that she fumbles answering. Dave is presumed dead when his wallet and shirt are found in the isolated rocky part of the beach.
The film is interesting up to a point, but goes on for too long repeating itself. Though well-acted and cleverly written, it fails to carry through on its subplots as the story goes around in circles. If you’re looking for nothing more than a quirky character study, the film pans out. For those hoping for a more ambitious film, like maybe a deeper psychological study, they will be disappointed. This is an entertaining but limited film about desperate souls.
It played at the Berlin Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 3/7/2025 GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com