Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Claire Oakley
Starring: Molly Windsor, Stefanie Martini, Joseph Quinn
The horror genre has often delved into homoerotic territory, whether explicitly in countless tales of lesbian vampires or through thinly-veiled allegory. Debut writer/director Claire Oakley's Make Up begins in horror territory only to morph into a straightforward(?) queer coming of age tale.
Rising young British star Molly Windsor is excellent as teenager Ruth, who travels to a windswept Cornish caravan park where she plans to live and work alongside her older boyfriend Tom (Joseph Quinn) in the wintry off-season.
There's more wind here than on the Moors of 'Wuthering Heights', gusts constantly rustling the plastic cocoons that cover the now dormant caravans. Oakley evokes Jacques Tourneur as Ruth is haunted by what seems like unseen supernatural forces, glimpsing shadowy figures in unoccupied caravans and hearing voices emanating from shower stalls.
When Ruth befriends fellow worker Jade (Stefanie Martini), a sexy and cool as ice wig maker, she becomes haunted by her own emerging sexuality. Unfortunately the film becomes a lot less interesting once it replaces its moody allegorical horror with a rather run of the mill sexual awakening drama, and it shuffles through its closing laps to an underwhelming resolution. Oakley, Windsor and Martini all do enough good work here however to keep us eager for their next outings.
Make Up is in UK cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema from July 31st.
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