255. Make Up; movie review

MAKE UP
Cert 15
86 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong sex, nudity

Another day and another 2020 film which has been lauded by critics but which failed to grab either Mrs W or me as much as we anticipated.
Claire Oakley's Make Up is set in Cornwall - near to where we went on a week's holiday in August.
Mobile home parks are not really our bag but we saw so many of them that we did wonder about their attraction.
Indeed, if the one represented here is an accurate barometer, they haven't changed much since the early 1990s when we holidayed in them because our children were very small.
I digress.
In Make Up, Molly Windsor stars as Ruth, a young woman from Derby who has caught the long coach ride St Ives to be with her boyfriend (Joseph Quinn), a worker at the aforementioned holiday park.
The very quirky park manager (Lisa Palfrey) takes her onto the team which looks after the site during the winter.
However, in the first couple of days, Ruth discovers a long ginger hair in Tom's home and becomes obsessed with the notion that he has had an affair.
Instead of confronting him, this nags at her to the point that she begins hearing and seeing things.
Is this triggered by jealousy or a new-found need to discover deeper feelings about herself?
Her confusion is heightened by another park worker, Jade (Stefanie Martini), who 'has a reputation', according to Tom.
I expected to enjoy Make Up because it had many of the ingredients of recent successful British independent releases.
It paints a picture of England which is unglamorous but realistic, captures caravan park life well and Windsor is an impressive lead.
It is also strangely spooky - throwing in the mysticism of the alluring sea.
However, it meandered with little happening during its first hour.
Consequently, its decisive moments didn't hit the mark with as much power as they might have done.

Reasons to watch: Original indie drama
Reasons to avoid: Not enough happens to grab

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes

Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? The first director to locate a feature film in Cornwall was Alfred Hitchcock - The Manxman in 1929.

The final word. Claire Oakley: “I wasn’t conscious of making a coming-out film. For me, it was more about the process of self-exploration, and the idea that you can know yourself so little." The Guardian

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