Between drinking sessions and one-night stands, washed-up tennis pro Tom (Sam Riley) clings to a job coaching holidaymakers at a hotel in Fuerteventura. When an English couple (Stacy Martin and Jack Farthing) arrive, their presence sets off a chain of events that leads to a mysterious disappearance.

Islands is a contemporary, intelligent thriller with noirish undertones and stylistic echoes of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, stunningly shot against the sun-drenched volcanic landscapes of the Canary Islands.

The Garden Cinema View:

Islands establishes itself beautifully, with Sam Riley’s fried-out resort tennis coach presenting a kind of modern day Under the Volcano level of alcoholism and nihilism in the burning sun. As Ace (Riley) is joined by a Comfort of Strangers-esque pair of British tourists, a Patricia Highsmith-like mystery unfolds. The slightly diffuse plotting feels a bit underwhelming given the fertile setup, but Riley’s curiously mannered, dehydrated, and perpetuality knackered central performance is eminently engrossing.

Cast:
Sam Riley, Stacy Martin, Jack Farthing, Pep Ambròs