Holiday

A sun-filled sojourn on Turkey's Aegean coast sees a drug-lord's trophy girlfriend assessing her daily lot in this provocative portrait from Swedish writer/director Isabella Eklöf. Taking her stylistic cues from the bleak, composed cinema of Michael Haneke and Ulrich Seidl, Eklöf's camera hangs back to observe these lives of empty luxury, underpinned by an ominous threat of violence. With her long blonde tresses and skimpy swimsuits, leading lady Victoria Carmen Sonne certainly looks the part, but we're left to wonder whether she's content with being a mere plaything for a sinister gang boss (Lai Yde, quietly scary), or a if chance encounter with a Dutch yacht-owner (Thijs Römer) has opened up her options. A shocking, explicit scene of sexual domination illustrates exactly what's at stake, though Sonne's deliberately opaque performance keeps viewers at an emotional distance, prompting us instead to ponder the harsh realities of power-based relationships. A chastening, ultimately rather chilly affair from a promising, uncompromising female director.