The German film ‘Islands’, directed by Jan Ole Gerster, arrives at the Atlàntida Film Festival and Filmin on July 24. Filmed in Fuerteventura, it explores the loneliness of employees at a luxury hotel through a noir plot.
The German filmmaker Jan Ole Gerster, known for titles such as 'Oh Boy' or 'The Piano Teacher', returns with 'Islands', an existentialist drama that delves into the shadows of the Canary tourism industry. The film, which premieres on July 24 in the Domestic Section of the Atlàntida Film Festival (AMFF) via the Filmin platform, is set in a luxurious resort in Fuerteventura, turning the Majorcan landscape into a character in its own right.
The protagonist is Tom, played by Sam Riley, a former tennis player who, after a serious injury, barely survives as a tennis coach for tourists at a hotel on the island. His routine consists of lessons, alcohol, and one-night stands, until the arrival of the Maguire family disrupts his monotonous existence. Tom develops a relationship with Anne (Stacy Martin), her husband Dave (Jack Farthing), and their son Anton. The strange feeling of having known Anne before creates a tension that culminates in Dave's disappearance during a night of drinking, triggering a police investigation that points to Anne and Tom as suspects.
Gerster, who co-writes the script with Blaz Kutin and Lawrie Doran, constructs a narrative that draws from classic noir cinema, echoing James M. Cain or Patricia Highsmith, but without falling into the clichés of the genre. The criminal plot, rather than an end in itself, serves as a macguffin that keeps the viewer's attention while the film delves into the psychology of its characters.
The director takes advantage of the arid and lunar landscapes of Fuerteventura to create a 'sunshine noir', a subgenre that places darkness and mystery under the scorching sun of a holiday setting. The contrast between the decaying coldness of hotel routine and the night parties in exotic-sounding beach bars reinforces the atmosphere of strangeness and fascination that envelops the film.
But 'Islands' is not just a thriller; it is, above all, a reflection on loneliness and missed opportunities. Gerster focuses on the hidden side of large tourist resorts: that of the workers who cater to transient visitors while they remain trapped on the island, without prospects or dreams. Tom, Anne, and Dave are the true 'islands' of the title, isolated characters who, as Ian Fleming wrote in 'Casino Royale', “do not really touch. No matter how close they are, they are actually quite separate.”
The difference between the Maguires and Tom is that the couple has escapes from their routine; Tom, on the other hand, seems doomed to live the lives of others, unable to change his own. This feeling of being trapped in an existence that is not desired, yet doing nothing to change it, is the emotional core of the film.
The cast, featuring names like Sam Riley, Stacy Martin, Jack Farthing, Pep Ambròs, Bruna Cusí, or Ramiro Blas, delivers performances that uphold the restrained tone and the slow-cooked narrative proposed by Gerster. The film premieres on July 24 on Filmin as part of the Atlàntida Film Festival, and promises to be one of the most interesting offerings in the Domestic section for lovers of auteur cinema with a noir soul.
For the Canary viewer, 'Islands' offers an added layer of identification by recognising the landscapes of Fuerteventura and seeing, through an outsider's but accurate gaze, the reality of many workers in the island's tourism sector. The film invites reflection on the human cost of living in a paradise that, for some, is merely a gilded cage.
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