So you may not have heard that the cinemas have closed. How sad. It means that I have much more time and much less releases to look out for. However, there is hope. The BFI and BBC are teaming up to show a new British Independent film released in 2020 each week on Saturday Night on BBC Two and BBC IPlayer. Therefore, at least for the next month, I’ll be turning my attention to them, while also returning to the What I Watched This Week posts.

Make Up is a really weird film. Set in a Cornish caravan park in the winter, young couple Ruth (Molly Windsor) and Tom (Joseph Quinn) are working off season, keeping the place tidy while it’s being fumigated. Tom lives locally, while Ruth came down all the way from Derby, no doubt attempting to avoid a Tier 3 lockdown. Pretty soon in, Ruth notices some ginger hairs on Tom’s bedding. The film becomes a bit of a psycho-sexual thriller as she investigates who this ginger person is, even though nobody at the camp remembers anybody ginger being there. Infused with horror moments, the film takes many turns throughout.

The atmosphere itself is definitely a note-worthy feature. The caravan park is isolated. Each individual unit feels like a prison. Any shots within feel very cramped. The only escape, the sea, is big roaring and dangerous. That is part of the symbolism. The isolation and slow burning route to possible insanity with an odd soundtrack give vibes of The Shining. There are constant motifs and ideas which flicker around throughout the film, creating a captivating and eerie atmosphere. While not a stone cold horror, the film has thriller elements.

The scenes are all over the place. Constant momentary time jumps are rather disorientating, yet all build together to make this puzzle box which will eventually be unlocked. It’s a bit like “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”, but without the boring car scenes.

While the film was smart with it’s use of symbolism, it’s by no means a perfect piece. The film took a really long time to get going, really only starting in it’s last half an hour to become interesting. By this point, I had lost a fair amount of interest, especially watching at home where my focus is lower than in the cinema. Obviously, that isn’t their fault, but that’s the way it is. I didn’t really like any of the characters either. The script was a bit weak, not really telling you anything about them, so when things started moving, I wasn’t fully on board. While some horror moments worked, others felt unnecessary and not rewarding at all.

Summary

One of the years more unique releases, Make Up ratchets up towards a crescendo in style as we head towards the final act. However, it’s lack of substance in terms of character writing leaves you wishing for more. [Grade: C]

Make Up is available to watch on BBC iPlayer for free