Sukkwan Island is an unquestionably beautiful, ultimately frustrating cinematic journey. The film begins as Roy (Ruaridh Mollica) is searching for passage to the remote island of the title. It seems that the family cabin located on there is set to be demolished and Roy wants one last look at things. We clumsily jump back in time to find younger Roy (Woody Norman) as he waits in a car, outside of a diner. His mother Elizabeth (Tuppence Middleton) is meeting with Roy’s father Tom (Swann Arlaud). Tom wants to take Roy off into the remote northern wilderness of Sukkwan Island where he hopes to connect with his estranged son while enduring the elements. Vladimir de Fontenay does an admirable job directing a dicey and arduous narrative. However, it’s not enough to make the punishing runtime and redundant story beats worth the journey.

So Roy and his dad Tom hire Anna (Alma Pöysti) to fly them to the isolated northern bit of refuge named Sukkwan Island. Here the two are set to endure and survive through a harsh winter. While the cabin itself is relatively modern, it can only do so much to shield father and son from the elemental changes of the seasons ahead. Though remote, there will be plenty to do around the homestead, the most important of which is preparing for the coming winter. Between schoolwork and chores, Tom believes this is is just the break from society that Roy needs.

At first things are relatively calm. Father and son explore the surrounding wilderness, take dips in the frigid water, and talk about life. It is here that some of the more meaningful moments happen. Against the stunning landscape captured by Amine Berrada’s beautiful photography, Fontenay  zeros in on father and son attempting to connect. The two ponder the likelihood of Tom reuniting with his ex wife and coming back home to live with Roy and Elizabeth and the two dance under the northern lights. Of course, the ultimate lesson is that life and nature are harsh and untamable. Real winter arrives, closing Tom and Roy off from any outside assistance and the real work of survival begins.

For their parts, Norman and the young Roy and Arlaud as the pensive Tom both carry the film admirably. This is essentially a two person story that crucially depends on their performances and their chemistry. The casting and performances here are impeccable and are a credit to what makes the movie work.

Based on David Vann‘s semi-autobiographical book, Sukkwan Island gives us a journey that is a lot more fulfilling than the destination. As the film drones on and we have seen yet another scene of Tom and Roy struggling against the blasts of wind and snow to simply find fresh water we begin to ask, where is this headed? Why did we have to see this…again? This is the trap that writer-director Fontenay puts himself in only to reveal just how difficult stretching this story over nearly two hours would be. With the story of father and son against nature stretched thin, we are left to simply admire the craftsmanship behind Sukkwan Island.