The film opens with rock star Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) taking to the stage dressed in a full body metallic jumpsuit before retreating to the silent world Marianne and her partner Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) have created for themselves on the idyllic remote island of Pantelleria.

With the sun spilling out of the sky, the pair spend their vacation embracing the company of each other before being interrupted by Marianne’s former record producer and lover Harry (Ralph Fiennes) and recently united daughter Penelope (Dakota Johnson). The unexpected arrival announced by the shaking jet’s shadow grazing over Marianne and Paul’s sun-baking bodies.

It doesn’t take long for old flames to rekindle, but as is the danger with any fire that is not contained, it soon spreads further than intended. And so the scene is set, for an intense game of emotional chess.

Viewers are taken on a journey that explores the complex depths of each character and the dynamics of love and human behaviour. A Bigger Splash is as engrossing as it is emotionally exhausting and like most disastrous holidays, a fantastic tale.

- Megan Laws