EIFF 2025: Islands
Jan-Ole Gerster's Islands is a trouble-in-paradise thriller where the central mystery doesn't pay off
Tom (Sam Riley) lives a life just outside of luxury. A tennis coach at an upscale Fuerteventura hotel, his days of glory on the court far behind him, he fills his days coaching the well-to-do and their children, while his nights are filled with parties, booze and unorthodox sleeping arrangements. It is not a fulfilling life, but the arrival of Anne (Stacy Martin), Dave (Jack Farthing), and their son Anton (Dylan Torrell) upends his routine. For one, Tom feels like he has met Anne before, and he devotes extra time to showing the family all the best places on the island. For another, Dave goes missing after a heated argument with his wife, and the investigation puts Tom, Anne, and their suspicious closeness in crosshairs.
Unfortunately, the central mystery of Islands does not pay off, and the film is far better as a study of trapped characters within the liminal space of Canary Island holidays than it is a psychological thriller. Director Jan-Ole Gerster, working off his story with a script co-written with Blaž Kutin and Lawrie Doran, is at his best capturing the seedy underbelly of package holidays, where these vacations are only made possible by the precariously, unglamorously employed. Riley deftly conveys Tom’s frustrations, exacerbated by the nightly hedonism he seeks to escape his despair. But the script loves to hint at greater darknesses and secrets while making the actual actions and motivations quite straightforward. Thus, this trouble-in-paradise tale loses steam when it should crescendo to devastating revelations.
Islands had its UK premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2025, and is released in the UK on 12 Sep by BFI; certificate 15