June 25, 2026
FILM: ROSE OF NEVADA
WRITTEND & DIRECTED BY: MARK JENKIN
STARRING: GEORGE MACKAY, CALLUM TURNER, FRANCIS MAGEE
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Rose of Nevada begins with a series of shots of what looks like an abandoned boat. It almost appears that we are watching a documentary. Shot on a 16mm Bolex camera, the images are grainy and full-framed. Cuts to specific details of the rotting boat are quick and the setting is a bleak, rainy seaside. The overall aesthetic of the film is very art-house, cold, and austere. What it evolves into is a strange, almost dialogue-free experience that feels like a modern extended episode of The Twilight Zone.
George MacKay stars as Nick, a man with a wife and small child who gets a job on a fishing boat run by a grizzled, old skipper played by Francis Magee. Also on board is Callum Turner as Liam who is down on his luck and seems ready for the adventure. While sleeping on the boat, Nick notices a scratched wood board that reads: “Get off the boat now.” The mystery of the boat and journey deepens. When it returns to the dock something has changed in town. Chief of which is the date and year. Nick discovers that it is 1993, which is very weird since he was born in 1996.
One might expect that the characters would jump into a frenzy that they have traveled back in time. However, because these are sea men they don’t talk much and Nick and Liam couldn’t be more different in their reactions. MacKay as Nick walks around dazed, nervous, and confused while Turner as Liam swaggers through town and immediately takes to a local woman and her young child. Neither of the guys have a significant conversation about what has happened, leaving the audience to try putting the pieces together. There is also an old, mysterious-looking woman with long grey hair that keeps popping up and making unusual comments as if she is in the know. Flashes to previous men who have been on the boat also appear. Are dimensions colliding or is all of this a dream Luke is having?
The narrative gets increasingly more interesting as the film progresses. However, this isn’t one of those fast-moving time travel tales which keeps one on the edge of their seat. There is an exciting struggle when the boat hits a storm but this is, overall, a much headier experience about a true existential crisis.
Related to this, one of the techniques writer/director Mark Jenkin emphasizes is the use of sounds, particularly those originating from ambient sources such as drips of water, winds, and the mechanical churnings of anything associated with the boat. This allows the audience to intimately feel every detail of the environment. He also distorts sound at times suggesting that we are either hearing things from the point of view of Luke or that we are traveling through different time dimensions.
There initially does not seem to be a lot of significant character development and part of this has to do with the nature of who these people might really be. Even their names are inconsistent, creating further confusion and distortion. The film though does suggest there is a constant yearning to feel needed, to come to terms with grief and loss, and to be open to why we might be present in any given situation. Ultimately both characters do change and make decisions that affect the greater good of people throughout the town.
This is one of the rare films I watched for a second time before finishing my review. There’s no question that it that greatly benefits from that additional viewing. The script gets deeper and richer and the performances are more nuanced than I initially thought. I think I’d want to return to it again to peel even more of the layers of the mind-bending narrative. While the film might be a bit too cold and slow-moving for general audiences I was quite satisfied where it took me. Whether this is enough for others to check it out depends on one’s own openness to a twisted, more complex and artier film experience.
Rose of Nevada opens in theaters this week, including the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.
FILM: ROSE OF NEVADA
WRITTEND & DIRECTED BY: MARK JENKIN
STARRING: GEORGE MACKAY, CALLUM TURNER, FRANCIS MAGEE
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Rose of Nevada begins with a series of shots of what looks like an abandoned boat. It almost appears that we are watching a documentary. Shot on a 16mm Bolex camera, the images are grainy and full-framed. Cuts to specific details of the rotting boat are quick and the setting is a bleak, rainy seaside. The overall aesthetic of the film is very art-house, cold, and austere. What it evolves into is a strange, almost dialogue-free experience that feels like a modern extended episode of The Twilight Zone.
George MacKay stars as Nick, a man with a wife and small child who gets a job on a fishing boat run by a grizzled, old skipper played by Francis Magee. Also on board is Callum Turner as Liam who is down on his luck and seems ready for the adventure. While sleeping on the boat, Nick notices a scratched wood board that reads: “Get off the boat now.” The mystery of the boat and journey deepens. When it returns to the dock something has changed in town. Chief of which is the date and year. Nick discovers that it is 1993, which is very weird since he was born in 1996.
One might expect that the characters would jump into a frenzy that they have traveled back in time. However, because these are sea men they don’t talk much and Nick and Liam couldn’t be more different in their reactions. MacKay as Nick walks around dazed, nervous, and confused while Turner as Liam swaggers through town and immediately takes to a local woman and her young child. Neither of the guys have a significant conversation about what has happened, leaving the audience to try putting the pieces together. There is also an old, mysterious-looking woman with long grey hair that keeps popping up and making unusual comments as if she is in the know. Flashes to previous men who have been on the boat also appear. Are dimensions colliding or is all of this a dream Luke is having?
The narrative gets increasingly more interesting as the film progresses. However, this isn’t one of those fast-moving time travel tales which keeps one on the edge of their seat. There is an exciting struggle when the boat hits a storm but this is, overall, a much headier experience about a true existential crisis.
Related to this, one of the techniques writer/director Mark Jenkin emphasizes is the use of sounds, particularly those originating from ambient sources such as drips of water, winds, and the mechanical churnings of anything associated with the boat. This allows the audience to intimately feel every detail of the environment. He also distorts sound at times suggesting that we are either hearing things from the point of view of Luke or that we are traveling through different time dimensions.
There initially does not seem to be a lot of significant character development and part of this has to do with the nature of who these people might really be. Even their names are inconsistent, creating further confusion and distortion. The film though does suggest there is a constant yearning to feel needed, to come to terms with grief and loss, and to be open to why we might be present in any given situation. Ultimately both characters do change and make decisions that affect the greater good of people throughout the town.
This is one of the rare films I watched for a second time before finishing my review. There’s no question that it that greatly benefits from that additional viewing. The script gets deeper and richer and the performances are more nuanced than I initially thought. I think I’d want to return to it again to peel even more of the layers of the mind-bending narrative. While the film might be a bit too cold and slow-moving for general audiences I was quite satisfied where it took me. Whether this is enough for others to check it out depends on one’s own openness to a twisted, more complex and artier film experience.
Rose of Nevada opens in theaters this week, including the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.