Filled with luscious shades of pastel pinks, blues and greens, the warm colour palette of Jaclyn Bethany’s latest feature blushes with the heady glow of summer. Like a bruised fruit, however, the sugary imagery belies unexpected notes of bitterness, as the film plumbs the complex depths of female relationship and the everlasting spell of first love. Led by an all-female cast, the mood is beguilingly woozy, even conspiratorial.
Friends in their teens as dance students, Scarlet (Amber Anderson) and Jo (Greta Bellamacina) reunite as adults for the latter’s hen night at a countryside cottage. Other guests will soon arrive, but much of the film hinges on the palpable tension and intimacy between the two women. Nearly opposite in temperament – Scarlet is reserved while Jo is more flamboyant – the pair finds their life paths have starkly diverged in terms of love and career. Resentment and hurt float to the surface, as flashbacks reveal that their all-consuming bond in the past has also been a romantic one. Their nostalgic conversations are dotted with stolen glances and hesitant pauses. They encapsulate that very specific push and pull between once-close confidants, who struggle to perceive each other with fresh eyes.
Bellamacina, who also co-wrote the script with Bethany, shares a striking chemistry with Anderson. Playing different ages is a difficult task, and the two actresses embody both schoolgirl angst and grownup blues with impressive ease. The keen attention to costumes as well as art direction is also striking, with the sight of ruffly wedding dresses and floral headboards conjuring a cocoon of feminine sisterhood. Such sumptuous stylisation is pleasurable to the senses, even if the deliberate artifice occasionally seeps into the dialogue and renders certain line readings stilted and mannered. At the same time, the symbiotic alchemy between long-time collaborators Bethany and Bellamacina remains impressive, and an auspicious sign for their future projects.
• Tell That to the Winter Sea is in UK cinemas from 31 May and on digital platforms from 1 July.
