Review

With each frame entailing a gorgeous visual vista of seaside New Zealand, Rain marks the breathtaking feature debut of award-winning New Zealand commercial director Christine Jeffs. A sublime fable of innocence lost, sexuality gained, and the price for such a trade-off, Rain revolves around a troubled family of four’s summer vacation. Thirteen-year-old Janey (Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki) is awkwardly bouncing between childhood and young adulthood. She's caught between the uncomplicated world of her little brother Jim (Aaron Murphy), who finds simple joys in games, and the tantalizing world of her restless mother Kate, who commences a lusty affair with Cady, a photograph-snapping boat captain. As Janey ultimately begins leaning towards mother’s tumultuous sea of adulthood, hurry-up experience becomes a priority. But when a geeky boy proves too timid for Janey’s educational assistance, she shifts her determined focus to Cady. As summer comes to a head, Dad grows disgusted, Mom slams down drinks, and Janey makes decisions that ensure her family will never be the same again. Set in the '70s, Rain captures not just the air of an era, but its undercurrent of urgent sexuality and desire. And there’s no use resisting the show-stealing, superb performances of Jeffs’ two youngest stars, Fulford-Wierzbicki and Murphy. With its deliberate, visually meditative pace, Rain may not be the most stormy narrative entry within this year’s festival, but few others will cut right through and impart such a profoundly lasting chill.