Under The Volcano Feature Review VIFF2024-18

In this affecting, meditative and timely drama, Ukrainian family members vacationing in Tenerife have their travel plans and their entire lives upended by Russia’s sudden invasion of their homeland. Blindsided, they experience a bewildering spectrum of emotions as their languorous holiday is converted into an intolerable state of limbo. Carnival festivities swirl around them; Russian tourists drink wine and enjoy the swimming pool while the family frantically seeks news — even in unintelligible Spanish — about the growing devastation in Kyiv. Their dread anticipation and sense of abject helplessness inevitably explode into tensions and fractures between them.

The themes of isolation, disorientation and elements beyond one’s control are conveyed by gorgeous natural imagery, including long takes of the ocean’s unsettled moods, expanses of wilderness, and references to a volcano. Replete with ironic juxtaposition, the film is a visual feast, an eloquent photographic essay about the human condition.

Its somber tone is balanced by significant grace notes, such as the hotel manager’s unexpected generosity; teenage Sofia’s devotion to her adorable six-year-old brother; and her compassion for the displaced strangers she meets, whose alienation she recognizes as greater than her own.