Black Island – Netflix Review (2/5)

BLACK ISLAND on Netflix is a thriller from Germany. It’s a fairly standard TV movie and certainly not one of the better. Mostly, it comes across as an erotic thriller with a very predictable plot. Read our full Black Island movie review here!

Murderous seductress with a desire to molest

The entire storyline of Black Island (org. title Schwarze Insel which means the exact same) is extremely hamfisted in its narrative. This seems like the fantasy of a hormone-influence teenage boy. Or much worse, the desires of an adult woman who has some extremely inappropriate desires.

I don’t mean to kink shame, but I can’t really endorse or respect the main erotic relationship in this movie.

And then there are all those sex scenes in Black Island. One more inappropriate (and without much of a build-up) than the next. But okay, these elements of an erotic thriller just really do not work for me. And not just because most of them involve a young male student and his female adult teacher. Though that alone is enough!

No, my issue with these scenes (regardless of preferences and age issues bordering heavily on molestation) is the fact that they do nothing for the story. Certainly not all of them in all their variations.

Not much of a mystery

Also, in terms of this being a “thriller mystery”, we’re told an awful lot from the very beginning. We know that the main female character is a villain before the movie has even really started. So, you know, no need to ponder that detail any further.

The question remaining is this: Why? And honestly, by the time of the big “reveal”, you’ll have gotten so many hints – and downright facts – that you’ll already have the answers. If not all, then definitely most.

It seems like this movie is banking on having a somewhat grotesque (and rather disgusting) plot twist rather than a surprising or intelligent one.

You can watch Black Island on Netflix now!

Black Island is directed by Miguel Alexandre, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Lisa Carline Hofer. Previously, Miguel Alexandre has directed a huge number of TV series and TV movies. And yes, this movie is also listed as a TV movie on IMDb, which feels very accurate.

However, he did also write and direct a “real” movie (as in not a TV movie) back in 2017. This was the comedy-drama Arthur & Claire which sports a very respectable 7.1 rating on IMDb. Maybe he would do well to focus on these kinds of productions instead of TV movies that are equivalent to average episodes of boring crime series.

Lisa Carline Hofer is an actor who gets her writing debut with this movie. If this is accurate of what she can deliver on that front, then maybe acting is the better option. Sorry, but I see nothing worth working on in terms of storyline.

And yes, she does have a cameo in Black Island as well. The young woman on the ferry at the very end of the movie. Just look for the lady in the yellow Georgie raincoat and you can’t miss her.

Black Island is out on Netflix from August 18, 2021.

Details

Director: Miguel Alexandre
Writers: Miguel Alexandre, Lisa Hofer
Stars: Philip Froissant, Alice Dwyer, Hanns Zischler, Mercedes Müller, Sammy Scheuritzel, Lieselotte Voss, Katharina Schütz, Jodie Leslie Ahlborn, Marco Wittorf, Ilknur Boyraz