Who wouldn’t want to live out their greatest fantasy? This movie’s trailer did a good job of setting the scene when it came to showing the feel of the island, from the idyllic atmosphere to how things started to go wrong.
I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know the characters through the course of the movie. It was good to learn more about their history and motivations. Even J.D. and Brax, who at first seemed typical party boys, had a much deeper history than it first seemed.
While I did expect the fantasies to take a dark turn, due to the trailer, I felt that it was still done in a way that worked, as a gradual buildup rather than everything turning sour straight away.
It was good to see glimpses of the wider area of the island, though I would have liked a bit more detail of how it actually worked. At various times, the movie seemed to break its own rules.
I did find it harder to relate to Gwen’s fantasy; which I suppose did make sense, given what’s revealed later in the movie. However, I found it difficult to see any mothering instinct in her, despite her claim to have five years worth of memory.
As more was revealed about the characters and their backgrounds, I did start caring about what happened to them a lot more. But honestly, I couldn’t see how the island could ever be a sustainable thing. After all, people would talk. And eventually, it would either be overrun by people desperate to change their lives, or utterly destroyed.
I haven’t seen the series this movie is supposed to tie to, though, so it’s possible that these things do happen.
I did end up enjoying this movie. If you ignore the contradictions, it is entertaining and does have some good characters easy to relate to.
