Make Up

19-year-old Ruth travels alone to a caravan park in Cornwall to be with her boyfriend Tom. The park is deserted apart from the seasonal workers who are getting the mobile homes ready for the winter. In this grim yet poetic environment, Ruth tries to find out where the long red hairs she finds on Tom’s clothing are coming from. At the same time, she struggles with her feelings for Jade, who works in the park and resolutely wins her over. In the emptiness of this life, there is plenty of space for new emotions and her imagination, fed by inexplicable events.

Filmmaker Claire Oakley ratchets up the tension slowly and effectively in this psychological thriller and coming of age, her feature debut. Ruth’s fears and confusion are projected onto elements of the environment, which take on an ominous character: the caravans shrouded in plastic, the pale dunes, the dark sea and the deserted buildings. The minimalist, ominous soundtrack reinforces the sense of mystery in this liminal area between fiction and reality.

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