Archipelago

2011 • 109 minutes

About this movie

Edward (Tom Hiddleston) arrives on a remote island off the English coast, to join his mother (Kate Fahy) and sister (Lydia Leonard) who have organised the family holiday to say goodbye to Edward before he embarks on a year of voluntary service in Africa. Hired cook Rose (Amy Lloyd) and painting teacher Christopher (Christopher Baker) join the family in their rustic cottage and on daytrips around the island. But Edward's father repeatedly fails to join the gathering, instead communicating with his wife and children via a series of increasingly strained phone-calls. His absence serves to bring the family's buried anger and repressed emotions to the surface and underlying tensions are gradually revealed through raw scenes of bitter sibling rivalry and marital disharmony.

Ratings and reviews

Even by Arthouse standards this was pretty dull. You could probably write an academic piece about the banality of middle class society and the disconnect from means of production and the working class based on this, but I wouldn't choose to watch for entertainment. Watching paint dry seems suddenly more appealing..

I love the scenery and the quiet beauty of the place resonates with the brewing emotions ready to erupt within the family. Hiddleston was as usual, outstanding. Never faulting in his ability to draw you in to the character.

Like watching paint dry without the satisfaction of dry paint at the end