Stromboli is a new drama directed by Michiel van Erp, director of Nobody in the City. The film is an adaptation of the book of the same name, written by Saskia Noort.
The film follows Sara (Elise Schaap), who tries to escape her past and present situation. For this she traveled to the small Italian volcanic island of Stromboli with a suitcase filled with vodka and a body and mind filled with traumatic problems. Secretly she hopes that the volcano will erupt and that she can be freed from all this misery.
At her lowest point of misery, Sara ends up with a society filled with people who also carry their own traumas and problems with them. The society is led by the guru Jens (Christian Hillborg). He tries to steer all members in a direction so that they are confronted with their problems and traumas and can hopefully overcome them.
With this film they try to create a powerful film about people who are at a low point in their lives due to various traumas and other difficulties. This is a well-known subject in the film world and can therefore come across as a familiar thing. Fortunately, Elise Schaap gets enough time and opportunities to develop her character and the traumas that the character carries with her in the film. This is only brought up in short flashbacks at first, but is made clearer later when you learn exactly what happened to her character.
Unfortunately, they did add some unnecessary comedic moments to the film, trying to shed some light on the trauma of the main character. This just often doesn't come across as appropriate in the story and creates some special and unnecessary moments.
The other actors who play the rest of the society don't get enough time to bring out all the traumas and problems of their characters. Because of this, some can come across as vague or unclear in the film. In the film, the guru and other members are also more concerned with Sara's problems and she remains somewhat in the shadows with the rest with their problems. If they had found a better balance in this, the film and the characters would have come across a bit more realistic. Too many coincidences in the film make the film itself a bit more unrealistic.
