Caravan parks on screen often tend to be a spot for a quick fling (see this year’s Dating Amber), or a total horror-scene (see Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers). In Make Up, the debut feature from writer-director Claire Oakley, it may contain all of the above. The film is a swirling psychological drama, featuring rising star Molly Windsor as Ruth – a young woman who suspects her boyfriend of having an affair when she finds a striking red hair on her pillow. It’s a discovery that sparks a chain reaction of obsession, awakening, and desire. Watch the trailer exclusively below.
The film, coming to cinemas and Curzon Home Cinema later this month, was a festival hit and marks the promising arrival of Oakley with its shapeshifting tone and searing visuals – part coming-of-age story, part trippy thriller, part character drama. Take a look at the striking poster below.
And here’s the official synopsis: “Teenager Ruth travels to a seaside holiday park to stay with her boyfriend Tom. It’s off-season, so the resort is mostly deserted, except for a few residents and a handful of staff charged with sprucing up the place. Ruth gradually settles into her new environment, finding work and making a new friend in the form of make-up enthusiast Jade. But one afternoon, while giving Tom’s caravan a spring clean, Ruth finds evidence her beau might be cheating on her. As her desire to uncover the truth turns into an obsession, she begins to realise she might be looking for something else entirely. Transforming her remote coastal setting into an intangible labyrinth of creeping intrigue, Claire Oakley inventively flirts with genre conventions to weave a singular tale of self-acceptance and sexual awakening.”
Make Up comes to the big screen and Curzon Home Cinema from 31 July.