Whether intentional or not, writer-director Claire Oakley has made an interesting comparison here between relationships and small seaside holiday areas in the UK. You can spend so long looking forward to your mini-break that the fantasy becomes something almost impossible for the reality to match. And when you are there, perhaps having to put up with some typically bad British weather in between days of sea and sunshine, it’s all too easy to start thinking about other possibilities. People keep striving for an ideal, it’s what they have in mind, but that can stop them from enjoying what they already have. On the other hand, the seaside holiday area cannot expect to keep people happy if it just sits there, being a seaside holiday area with minimal effort made to retain some of the magic it once had.
Molly Windsor plays Ruth, a young woman who heads along to visit her boyfriend, Tom (Joseph Quinn). They’ve been in a relationship for a little while already, but this is their first time really sharing one another’s space. There is that “honeymoon period” glow for them, but it soon starts to fade. While working at the holiday site, Ruth befriends Jade (Stefanie Martini), someone Tom warns her to stay away from.
Having helmed a number of shorts over the past few years, Oakley comes to her feature debut with a vision and confidence that many other film-makers would do well to emulate. This may feel like a character study, and it is, but it is also a look at the phases of a relationship, the ways in which people can either move closer together or further apart while floating together in the rocky waters of what they hope could be a worthwhile love.
Both Windsor and Quinn are excellent in their lead roles, very effective at portraying two young people who aren’t sure quite how to act when their relationship ideals are tested by reality. Martini is easily on the same level as them, a wonderful lightning rod, shining brightly while becoming potentially dangerous for anyone who gets close enough. Theo Barklem-Biggs had a small, antagonistic, role, and there are a couple of very small, but solid, turns from Lisa Palfrey and Elodie Wilton.
Subtle and quiet without being too bleak, Make Up is actually a more uplifting film than any summary or review might lead you to believe. It is about someone finding happiness, despite the fact that it takes them a while to find out what their happiness really feels like. Moving from the straightforward reality depicted to one or two moments that use an air of surrealism to add some more cinematic elements, with one highlight mixing eroticism and horror in an unsettling and intriguing way, this is the kind of film that makes you excited to have discovered it. So don’t just take my word for it, go and discover it for yourself.
9/10
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