‘Islands’ Review: a slow-burn thriller set on a volcanic island

Lisa Kennedy reviews Jan-Ole Gerster’s film “Islands” for The New York Times (Jan. 29, 2026), calling it a slow-burn thriller set on a volcanic island and naming it a NYT Critic’s Pick. The film stars Sam Riley as a seaside resort tennis pro and is in theaters. The review says Riley imbues Tom with a “soulful lonesomeness”: he drinks a bit too much, parties at the local strobe-lit club, wakes in his or some guest’s room, and moves between being a friend, a friendly acquaintance and a client to the island’s inhabitants and guests.

An aging couple who are fond of him are retiring from running a camel attraction, and a wayward camel will pose its own mysteries; their impending departure adds to the film’s low-grade melancholy. Kennedy notes that when Anne (Stacy Martin) seeks Tom’s services for her young son Anton (Dylan Torrell) it is unclear whether she is also flirting, and that once her husband Dave (Jack Farthing) shows up the couple begin to pull Tom into their lives.

When Dave goes missing, a police inspector (Ramiro Blas) arrives “with a fealty only to the truth,” the review says. The review frames Gerster’s approach as more thoughtfully existential than a simple relish-and-despise-the-rich tease like “The White Lotus.” Kennedy praises the film’s decision to leave some quandaries lingering and to use the rough beauty of the volcanic island to both beckon and rebuke.

The film is not rated; it is in English and Spanish with subtitles and runs 2 hours and 3 minutes.

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