The Movie: Holiday
The Director: Isabella Eklöf
The Cast: Victoria Carmen Sonne, Lai Yde, Thijs Römer, Bo Brønnum
The Story: A love triangle featuring the trophy girlfriend of a petty drug lord, caught up in a web of luxury and violence in a modern dark gangster tale set in the beautiful port city of Bodrum on the Turkish Riviera.
The Review:
When I sat down to watch this movie, I was expecting a horror movie because, well I was covering a horror movie film festival and it looked like it might be a different take on Revenge which came out earlier this year. Nope, not like that at all. Once I realized this was more of a crime world drama, that's when I really started to enjoy it. There are a lot of subtleties and nuances to Isabella Eklöf's direction that make it a very interesting watch.
The primary focus of the movie is on Sascha, played by Victoria Carmen Sonne, as she enters the world of a crime family and all of the trappings associated with that lifestyle. She is the trophy girlfriend of Michael (Lai Yde), the head of the family but the also has a bit of a relationship with Thomas, who she randomly met at an ice cream shop. For most of the movie not a whole lot happens so we get to see the interplay between characters, how Michael asserts his dominance as head of the crime family, and the contrast between him and Thomas, especially when they eventually meet.
For most of the movie, Eklöf shows the audience all the different ways that Michael abuses Sascha, emotionally, physically, conversationally, and how he demeans her and makes her feel less than a human being while at the same time showering her with gifts. He places her firmly on a pedestal that she can't escape from and, to be honest, she doesn't really want to because the glamour, attention, and sense of belonging she receives far outweigh the negatives in her mind.
All of this leads to a conclusion that is a bit shocking in how it plays out and really makes you think about Sascha and the choices she is making with the cards she has been dealt. Now that I've finished watching the movie and had a chance to think it through, there is definitely an element of horror, it's just a lot more subtle and psychological than what you might expect from the genre.
Holiday is an official selection of the 2018 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
TwoOhSix.com coverage of the 2018 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
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