ISLANDS
Set in the sun-bleached purgatory of a Fuerteventura resort, German filmmaker Jan-Ole Gerster’s (COFFEE IN BERLIN) ISLANDS is a slinky neo-noir that simmers with unspoken tension and veiled intentions, channeling everything from THE PASSENGER and WHITE LOTUS to CHALLENGERS and THE SWIMMING POOL. Sam Riley (CONTROL) gives a compellingly ragged performance as Tom (a.k.a. “Ace”), a once-promising tennis player turned disillusioned resort coach whose days blur into a cocktail of hangovers and half-remembered encounters. His stagnating routine is disrupted by Anne and Dave, a chic British couple — played with alluring ambiguity by Stacy Martin and Jack Farthing — who enlist him to coach their young son and gradually pull him into their curiously performative orbit. When Dave mysteriously disappears after a night on the town, all eyes are on Tom and Anne. But nothing is quite as it seems. ISLANDS thrives on a mood of seductive disquiet, eschewing traditional thriller beats in favor of suggestion and restraint, with Gerster’s script (co-written with Blaž Kutin and Lawrie Doran) allowing tension to accumulate in loaded silences and knowing glances. Cinematographer Juan Sarmiento G. (A POET, THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB) beautifully renders the island’s vast landscapes as both idyllic and isolating, a picture postcard of paradise with something sinister beneath the surface. With an atmosphere of malaise and desire hovering just outside every frame, ISLANDS is a smart, enigmatic puzzle of a film that keeps everyone guessing until the credits roll. –Abbie Algar
Official Selection, 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. Winner, Best Film Score (Dascha Dauenhauer), 2025 German Film Awards. DIR/SCR Jan-Ole Gerster; SCR Blaž Kutin, Lawrie Doran; PROD Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo. Germany, 2025, color, 123 min. In English and Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 123 Minutes
Opening Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Genre: Crime drama
