VOD Review: Most Beautiful Island (2017)

"A girl's gotta do what she's gotta do to survive in the big city."

Luciana is an immigrant living in NYC, who works a string of odd jobs just to make ends meet. Her mother tells her to come back home, but it's clear that she's running from something terrible that happened, so she's determined to make it in the city however she can.

LIFE IS TOUGH IN THE BIG CITY.

Her friend Olga gives her a great opportunity to work a party where all she has to do is show up and look pretty, and she'll get paid $2000 at the end of the night. Even though it sounds sketchy, she accepts, and finds herself in a skanky warehouse where a group of New York's rich elite are about to subject her to a game that's even more terrifying to play than "Come massage my belly" with Harvey Weinstein.

A whole shitload of NOPE ensues.

BUT AT LEAST SHE'S GOT FRIENDS, RIGHT?

There aren't many movies that have me covering my eyes and trying to find my happy place to escape the disturbing shit that's happening onscreen, but this is surely one of those.

For most of its runtime, Most Beautiful Island plays like a document of an immigrants life as she makes her way through the mean streets of New York City, trying to scratch out a living in any way she can. Luciana is tortured by something in her past, and the talented Ana Asenio does a great job of showing us her life as one of isolation and despair. We like the girl, and we want her to persevere.

As the movie builds slowly towards the end, where Luciana heads off to work a mysterious party in order to survive, the dread builds slowly and realistically, until it culminates in a scene that... sweet Jesus, it was simple and quiet, but it was genuinely terrifying in a very unsettling way.

I can't spoil it. I mean, I could, but that would be a dick move on my part, and this movie deserves to open its own doors.

Asa Asenio did a special thing with her directorial debut, and she's definitely one to watch.

FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES.

This movie is a blood-free affair.

BUT THE TERROR IS PALPABLE.

Not only did Asa Asenio write, direct and star in the movie, but she bares it all with Natasha Romanova in one of the creepiest damned scenes that we've ever witnessed.

SEXY AND SMART. WE DIG IT.

Most Beautiful Island is a movie that takes a while to get going, but there's an underlying current of dread throughout that makes to the slow-burn trip to the finale (where we finally get to see what's behind that warehouse door) well-worth it.

B+

Most Beautiful Island is available now on VOD.

Most beautiful ladies.