Magic Magic

The tale of an adolescent's descent into madness recalls Catherine Deneuve in classic psycho-horror Repulsion, but this is an exasperating thriller from director Sebastián Silva (The Maid). It starts innocently enough with fragile Juno Temple going on holiday to a seemingly idyllic island off the coast of Chile with cousin Emily Browning and her friends. However, a sense of nightmarish unreality soon permeates proceedings when Browning is called away suddenly, leaving Temple at the mercy of virtual strangers, including an extremely creepy Michael Cera (in a disturbing departure from his likeable geek persona). Is Temple purposely being driven mad? Or is it sleep deprivation, the wrong kind of drugs, or even supernatural possession that ails her? The island location feeds the sense of eerie isolation and Temple is convincingly wild-eyed, but the film veers off at such a bizarre tangent, you are left feeling utterly frustrated. A lost opportunity.