Islands

It’s only January, but if the new film ISLANDS is any indication of what lies ahead, 2026 is already shaping up to be a hell of a year at the cinema.

Written and directed by Jan-Ole Gerster, and inspired by a character he observed while vacationing on the island of Fuerteventura, the film is a sexy, sun-drenched mystery that slowly tightens its grip. The story feels cut from the cloth of a Raymond Chandler or Patricia Highsmith novel — but just when noir convention tells you the plot will zig, Gerster makes it zag.

At the center of the film’s simmering love triangle is Sam Riley, unforgettable as Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis in the 2007 biopic CONTROL. He’s joined by Stacy Martin and Jack Farthing, perfectly cast as a troubled married couple whose arrival sets the story quietly — and irrevocably — in motion.

Since premiering at the Berlin Film Festival, ISLANDS has drawn widespread acclaim. Variety was so impressed that it named Gerster one of its 10 Directors to Watch for 2026.

To learn more about how ISLANDS came into being, we invite you to listen in on our conversation with Jan-Ole Gerster as he discusses his latest film on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE—starting now.

What does it take to overturn your daily routine? And how does it feel to have your daily routine, which you’ve turned into an existential necessity, overturned, after you’ve scrupulously arranged your life to avoid just that? Tennis instructor Tom serves and returns against ordinary affluent tourists at a picturesque island resort day in, day out. In the evenings he parties too much. He’s sunburnt and close to burnt out. One morning he’s approached by Anne, the beautiful mother of young Anton, for whom she wants lessons. Tom protests that he’s overbooked, but Anne is persuasive. Soon Tom is pulled into the family dynamic, which unfortunately includes the truculent Dave, Anne’s mate and Anton’s dad. Tom becomes an unwilling witness to the family’s most intimate, uncomfortable moments, even as Dave pushes Tom to party ever harder.

Something’s got to give. ISLANDS is a moving, deep character study that has the stealthy discomfort of an expert thriller.