When Isabel (Mackenzie Davis) and Joe (Christopher Abbott) arrive at the villa where they’re set to spend their holiday, they find a naked stranger swimming in their pool. She says she knows the pool boy; impulsively, Isabel asks her to stay. It’s an unusual move, but Isabel and Joe are unconventional people — she’s a war correspondent and he’s a poet, and both are committed to living lives of artistic integrity and freedom. Their unstable peace is shattered by the arrival of Kitti (Ariane Labed), the naked stranger in question, whose earthy manners and unaffected honesty expose subtle fissures in Isabel and Joe’s marriage. 

Director Justin Anderson shoots the film version of Deborah Levy’s celebrated novel in warm shades of yellow, clay and dusty teal, adding a thick, sunbaked atmosphere to an already sexy, languid tale. Set on an unnamed Mediterranean island, this artfully made, enigmatic dance between Eros and Thanatos is set to the organic sounds of singing bowls and wooden blocks on Greek composer Coti K's score.––Frederic Boyer

Justin Anderson