The viewer may find himself confused as to what kind of film 'Make Up' is supposed to be: is it aiming to be kitchen sink drama, will-they-won't-they lesbian romance, or even supernatural mystery?
Eighteen year-old Ruth (Molly Windsor) arrives at a windswept Cornish static caravan park at the end of the holiday season to spend some time with her boyfriend Tom (Joseph Quinn, who like Windsor and most of the cast is familiar from numerous British television appearances). Although the young couple are initially very loved-up, almost immediately things start to go wrong as Ruth is assailed by mysteries: to whom does the long red hair she finds on Tom's clothes belong? (Someone who is seriously moulting, judging by the amount of long red hairs Ruth finds in various places around the park). Is it the same woman with the blood-red fingernails whose face is so often just out of sight? And who is living in the sealed-off caravan? Then there is Jade (Stefanie Martini), the free-spirited chalet maid: what are her intentions towards Ruth?
This is a very atmospheric film: the caravan park, shot in washed-out colours and lashed by the weather, is a marvellous setting for this sort of character-driven drama (although it will do little for Cornwall's tourism industry). And although the story leaves many questions unanswered and may even leave you with a sense of "what was the point of that?!", I found it engrossing.
As for the acting, Windsor gives a good naturalistic performance as a young woman with little ambition confronting unexpected situations, and Martini is suitably enticing in the personality she gives to Jade (and - apologies for shallowness - in looks). Most entertaining, though, is Lisa Palfrey as the park's batty manager, making the most of lines like "When I learned to swim, I was no longer afraid of dogs". (Actually, that line - delivered at the beginning of the film - is a bit of dramatic foreshadowing, as it turns out that when Ruth learns to swim, she is no longer afraid of lesbians! Funny how things work out...)
Eighteen year-old Ruth (Molly Windsor) arrives at a windswept Cornish static caravan park at the end of the holiday season to spend some time with her boyfriend Tom (Joseph Quinn, who like Windsor and most of the cast is familiar from numerous British television appearances). Although the young couple are initially very loved-up, almost immediately things start to go wrong as Ruth is assailed by mysteries: to whom does the long red hair she finds on Tom's clothes belong? (Someone who is seriously moulting, judging by the amount of long red hairs Ruth finds in various places around the park). Is it the same woman with the blood-red fingernails whose face is so often just out of sight? And who is living in the sealed-off caravan? Then there is Jade (Stefanie Martini), the free-spirited chalet maid: what are her intentions towards Ruth?
This is a very atmospheric film: the caravan park, shot in washed-out colours and lashed by the weather, is a marvellous setting for this sort of character-driven drama (although it will do little for Cornwall's tourism industry). And although the story leaves many questions unanswered and may even leave you with a sense of "what was the point of that?!", I found it engrossing.
As for the acting, Windsor gives a good naturalistic performance as a young woman with little ambition confronting unexpected situations, and Martini is suitably enticing in the personality she gives to Jade (and - apologies for shallowness - in looks). Most entertaining, though, is Lisa Palfrey as the park's batty manager, making the most of lines like "When I learned to swim, I was no longer afraid of dogs". (Actually, that line - delivered at the beginning of the film - is a bit of dramatic foreshadowing, as it turns out that when Ruth learns to swim, she is no longer afraid of lesbians! Funny how things work out...)