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Islands

Play trailer 1:45 Poster for Islands Now Playing 2h 1m Mystery & Thriller Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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93% Tomatometer 42 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
In this twisty thriller, a tennis coach at a tropical resort finds himself at the center of a missing persons mystery. Tom (Sam Riley) teaches tennis during the day and parties at night. When an enigmatic tourist (Stacy Martin) arrives, Tom is unable to shake the feeling he has met her before. Tension and attraction grow, until her husband (Jack Farthing) disappears, and the police suspect Tom.
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Islands

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Critics Consensus

A glossy, slow burn thriller carried by soulful performances, Islands compellingly explores loneliness with artful restraint and intoxicating atmosphere.

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Critics Reviews

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Carlos Aguilar RogerEbert.com 3d
3/4
The character construction and how their respective desires intersect with one another, in tandem with an effectively dizzying atmosphere, render it more original than expected. Go to Full Review
Peter Travers The Travers Take 3d
3/4
A sexy tennis bum (Sam Riley) and a married woman (Stacy Martin) meet at a resort and stir up murderous thoughts in a too cryptic thriller fthat recalls Hitchcock and Antonioni while revealing a tormented mind of its own. Go to Full Review
Lisa Kennedy New York Times 4d
There’s a refreshing willfulness here to leave some quandaries lingering, and like the rough beauty of the volcanic island the movie is set on, “Islands” beckons and rebukes and beckons some more. Go to Full Review
Abbie Bernstein Assignment X 17h
B
A deliberately-paced but intriguing quasi-thriller. Go to Full Review
Joel Copling Spectrum Culture 1d
Islands works as a playful and simultaneously mournful subversion of a well-trod genre featuring a deeper protagonist than we might expect that can nevertheless be enigmatic to a fault. Go to Full Review
Sarah Vincent Sarah G Vincent Views 1d
Visually it deserves the big screen treatment. Narrative-wise, it is a matinee or wait until it streams. If you can relate to any of the characters, the lemon will be worth the squeeze. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Remy 2d Don't know where they were going with the movie but enjoyed it enough for the vibes See more A N @A.F.N 1d The dead camel symbolism pretty much summed this movie up. It trudged along through the sand, plodding steadily, and when it got to its destination, it wondered why it bothered in the first place. Luckily, the view was pretty along the way. See more Marco K @Marco69 Oct 17 Slow long-winded film. Not much psychology, without logic. Certainly not a thriller. Stupid disappointing plot and ending See more Sue W Sep 21 I did not feel the film worked partly because too many aspects of the storylines are not believable and partly because it tries too hard to be suspenseful ( the music is very heavy) and sophisticated. There is suspense in the middle section of the film which is creating some interest. The start of the film and the end are boring, full of cliches and we lose interest in the characters very quickly. I can see that we are meant to dislike them but they all seem very self indulged. The film tries to be elegant but is straight out of this year’s what to wear summer fashion. The acting is detached and there is no chemistry between the main actors. The actor playing the inspector is very good and lifts the film for a while but this is too little.Visually, it is also boring and again straight out of a tourist brochure. See more Les N Sep 21 Fascinating. I can relate. I don't know if that's a good thing? See more Hebden Bridge P Sep 20 Masterful storytelling which cranes the soul of the viewer. See more Read all reviews
Islands

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this twisty thriller, a tennis coach at a tropical resort finds himself at the center of a missing persons mystery. Tom (Sam Riley) teaches tennis during the day and parties at night. When an enigmatic tourist (Stacy Martin) arrives, Tom is unable to shake the feeling he has met her before. Tension and attraction grow, until her husband (Jack Farthing) disappears, and the police suspect Tom.
Director
Jan-Ole Gerster
Producer
Maximilian Leo, Jonas Katzenstein
Screenwriter
Jan-Ole Gerster, Lawrie Doran, Blaz Kutin
Distributor
Greenwich Entertainment
Production Co
Leonine Studios, Deutscher Filmförderfonds, Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, NRW Film Board, Augenschein Filmproduktion, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Schiwago Film
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 30, 2026, Limited
Runtime
2h 1m
Aspect Ratio
Digital 2.39:1