''Island'' is a 2011 British film and an independent adaptation of the 1999 novel ''

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

'' by Jane Rogers. The film was directed by Brek Taylor and Elizabeth Mitchell who also wrote the screenplay. It stars

Natalie Press Natalie Press (born 15 August 1980) is an English actress. She is known for her performance in the 2004 film ''My Summer of Love'' and a number of short and feature-length Independent film, independent films, including ''Wasp (2003 film), Wasp' ...

Colin Morgan Colin Morgan (born 1 January 1986) is a Northern Irish actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the BBC fantasy series '' Merlin'' (2008–2012), Leo Elster in ''Humans'' (2015–2018), and Billy Clanton in Kenneth Branagh’s ...

, and

Janet McTeer Janet McTeer (born 5 August 1961"Ms Janet McTeer, OBE"
. ''Derbrett's P ...

. It features original music from Michael Price, and cinematography from Rain (Kathy) Li.

Plot

Nikki Black abandoned at birth, is an unhinged twenty-nine-year-old woman on a vengeful quest to find and kill her birth mother. Shortly after arriving on the remote island of Tigh Na Benne, she discovers a room for rent ad from a Phyllis Lovage, her mother. Once there to rent the room, she quickly learns that she has a brother, Calum MacLeod, a loner, awkward and violent young man. Her mother sick with cancer, and protective of her son, keeps him on a tight leash and in short order attempts to keep the two apart. Nikki and Calum soon develop an unhealthy relationship that ends in tragedy.

Cast

as Nikki Black *

as Calum MacLeod *

Janet McTeer Janet McTeer (born 5 August 1961"Ms Janet McTeer, OBE"
. ''Derbrett's P ...

as Phyllis Lovage *

Tanya Franks Tanya Christine Franks (born 16 August 1967) is an English actress, producer and writer. She has had starring roles on the television shows ''Family Affairs'', ''The Bill'', ''Pulling (TV series), Pulling'', ''EastEnders'' and ''Broadchurch''. ...

as Ruby * Kate Stevens as Emma Lacey * Denise Oritta as Sally * Alex Donald as Gerry the Barman

Reception

''Island'' received mixed reviews. . Their top rated critic for the film,

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...

of the daily ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called it a "flimsy film", while Derek Malcolm of the tabloid

London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

was critical of directors Brek Taylor and Elizabeth Mitchell. Critic Andrew Lowry of the magazine ''

Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched i ...

'', said that Rain (Kathy) Li's cinematography "imbues proceedings with a chilly beauty". The site Best for Film critically reviewed the film as "effortlessly and satisfyingly ambiguous". Unsung Films reviewed the film as "different and unusual", "not keeping entirely faithful to the book", and "unique". The UK independent film review magazine ''Dog and Wolf'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars.

Production

''Island'' was filmed on the

Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull ( gd, An t-Eilean Muileach ) or just Mull (; gd, Muile, links=no ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the Council areas of Scotland, council area of Arg ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

, and the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent isl ...

, in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Release

''Island'' had its theatrical debut on 22 April 2011 in the UK and was later made available for viewing on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and the

video streaming Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

service

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1185393 2011 films 2011 drama films British drama films Films based on British novels Films set on fictional islands 2010s English-language films 2010s British films