Most Beautiful Island | Film review - Ana Asensio's unsettling indie movie

Most Beautiful Island Ana Asensio Luciana — (Image credit: © 2017 Palomo Films LLC)

Taking inspiration from her own experiences as an undocumented migrant in New York, Spanish actress Ana Asensio writes, directs and stars in this thought-provoking and unsettling indie movie.

Most Beautiful Island starts off as a documentary-style day-in-the-life social drama with her character, Luciana, scrabbling from one low-paying under-the-counter gig to another, handing out flyers dressed in a skimpy chicken costume one moment, babysitting spoilt rich kids the next.

But there’s already something unnerving about the claustrophobic camerawork and needling sound design, and the film gradually shades into thriller territory after Luciana accepts an offer of $2,000 to turn up in a little black dress at a mysterious party in Manhattan.

Certificate 18. Runtime 79 mins. Director Ana Asensio

Most Beautiful Island available on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Bulldog Films.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBLKI8ZoJ-A

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A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.