Make Up

Newb filmmaker Claire Oakley did a fine job at directing, but the writing was paced slower than a snail's pace. The 86 min runtime felt like an eternity, and there were far too many unnecessary random few-second shots. It made matters worse that lead Molly Windsor's role was drab and depressing. It's a good metaphorical story, but should've been a short film instead, which is up Oakley's alley. Cinematography and score were decent. It's a 6/10 from me.

An 18 year old girl arrives at an out-of-season caravan park by the sea to stay with her boyfriend who works there. She quickly suspects he is involved with another girl and becomes somewhat paranoid. The setting is perfect for the mood and atmosphere the director wants to convey; bleak, lonely, downbeat, and often downright creepy and unsettling. The movie has a very slow pace which in my view works very well, but it will alienate some.

The story has a serious flaw however in that we never really get to know the main character before her certainties begin to unravel and so are not really invested in her plight as we should be. The movie is far more comfortable when tackling her burgeoning friendship with a female character from the campsite than it is when we are asked to believe in her relationship with her boyfriend, which is glossed over and shallow and never really convincing. I like how the director was married to visual storytelling but we needed some kind of conversation between the main character and her boyfriend to believe something was at stake. The ending also falls a little flat, if it can be called an ending. It feels more like we are being told this mysterious, ethereal film was really just a lot of fuss about nothing.

My rating is generous because I like this style of film-making and would definitely watch more by this director, but if she wants to use male characters they should be more than just props and plot conveniences. 6/10

'Make Up (2019)' follows a young woman who moves to a caravan park in Cornwall in order to be with her long-term boyfriend. As she adjusts to her new life, she finds herself increasingly unsettled by a mysterious redhead and the gnawing feeling that something just isn't right. The piece is a small, isolated experience that focuses on putting you in the perspective of its quiet main character. Its story is a blend of the overtly mundane and the subtly bizarre. As such, its genre is difficult to define. It really is an odd one, a relationship drama infused with often genuinely unsettling suspense - the stuff that belongs in a straight-up horror. That contrast creates an uneven experience that often feels like it doesn't quite know what it wants to be. That's actually rather fitting in retrospect, as uncertainty is a major theme of the movie, but it makes for an inconsistent in-the-moment experience. On top of that, the affair sometimes borders on being dull. It gets increasingly interesting as it goes on, though, and it does a good job of putting you in the head of its protagonist. It often succeeds in getting under your skin, featuring several disquieting scenes that almost put actual horror films to shame. Once you realise what it's doing (and has been doing all along), it becomes a lot more interesting. It explores its themes in a rather innovative way, subtly and slowly unravelling its material. It isn't exactly exciting but it is often engaging. It's a solid and unconventional first-time effort. 6/10

I'm so disappointed. For the first half I was so into it! The location, the vibe, the atmosphere. But then by the final part, the wheels had well and truly fell off the car. The story just completely caved in on its self. It's literally like two different movies split directly down the middle.

One is a mystery, suspense movie about finding evidence of an affair and the other is a "finding who you are" movie. But the insane thing is, the first "plot" is completely dropped and just forgotten about.

There are lots of pointless things that happen too. Like they feel like they are going to be plot points but then they just aren't?

The writing was like "cagey". No one spoke I'm full sentences. "Jade has a reputation" "what reputation?" "*silence*". Like why did no one talk properly. They just eluded to things and then never followed up on them.

Iv been super harsh on this movie but it's because I loved so many parts of it, particularly the atmosphere. Sea side locations AND caravans are totally my vibe so I was sold. And Shirley was completely insane and I needed more from her. But the the rest of the movie just tore it's self apart from the inside.

I found the lead character to be 2 dimensional and to have few redeeming or watchable features. She didn't do a lot, was just one of those characters that just watches everything. This is an overdone technical device to encourage the viewer to watch and pay more attention. However, there was little to see, causing frustration.

The other characters had more life in them but these were not exploited to their full potential. The central theme being a mystery character, didn't really come off that well. This again could have been developed and made much more dramatic and interesting.

A good effort but this storyline was just the basic framework of the story, more flesh was needed on the empty and rather slow bones of the piece.