On a remote Scottish island before World War II, Aislin lives with her minister husband Balor, a man of sudden and violent mood swings, and stern religiosity. Aislin finds consolation from his attitude of wrathful disapproval in the stark beauty of the surrounding countryside. Unsurprisingly, a storm is raging inside couple’s marriage, and just as they reach breaking point they are joined by Fionn, a Glaswegian youth who is to be given one last chance at rehabilitation. Balor is initially suspicious of him but Aislin recognises a kindred spirit in this sensitive young man and their relationship deepens when her husband has to leave the island. Fionn’s youthful nature ignites a passion within her, which offers her a way out of a life bound by convention and into the world beyond, resulting in a taut and claustrophobic drama set on a wild, remote Scottish island in the 1950s.
Marking Corinna McFarlane’s feature debut after her codirected 2006 documentary Three Miles North of Molkom, this domestic melodrama is a tale of sweeping emotions and grandly realised landscapes, featuring full-blooded performances from Riseborough and Lewis.
