The lives of two very different women intersect for a short time, after which their paths will change – for better or for worse? In Transit, directed by Jaclyn Bethany, receives its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2025.
An artist and her new-found muse are the two very different women at the centre of writer/actor Alex Sarrigeorgiou’s feature In Transit, a gentle, queer-tinged drama set in snowy rural Maine.
Sarrigeorgiou is Lucy, a young woman who seems content living a quiet life with her longtime boyfriend Tom (François Arnaud), and working in the local bar. Life has a gentle rhythm that she is accustomed to, until one day Ilse (Jennifer Ehle) takes a seat at the bar and begins sketching Lucy.
Ilse is an artist who has come to Maine on retreat as she is ‘stuck’ with her work and is trying to find inspiration away from the city. She asks Lucy if she would pose for her sometime and, after much thought, Lucy accepts. Around the same time, Lucy discovers that the bar is to be sold, which means that everything she’s ever known is about to change.
At this juncture in both the women’s lives, the time they spend together in Ilse’s studio appears to be a turning point for both. There’s no doubting Lucy’s beauty and stillness of presence, and Ilse spends time trying to find exactly the right pose to paint, but nevertheless there’s something missing, a distance between artist and model, which needs to be bridged if Ilse’s work is to be enough to satisfy her artistic vision.
Jennifer Ehle is far and away the outstanding part of this film. Ilse’s loss of artistic inspiration makes her feel vulnerable and unable to express herself properly, yet there’s a constant edginess to her behaviour which may be artistic angst, or may be asking if we can actually trust her. Perhaps the women are helping each other through a time of transition, or perhaps they’re each using the other to achieve a goal. Ehle is really good at this, and if you’re playing against someone of her calibre, then you’d better be sure that your chosen actor has the range and depth to match her.
The best word to sum up In Transit is chilly. The bleak landscapes, the pared-back colour palette, the lack of any great passion; the women are individually searching for what they each need, but the push and pull of their relationship means they never find it at the same time.
In Transit has its World Premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival (14th – 20th August 2025) on 17th August 2025.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Discover more from The Movie Isle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The lives of two very different women intersect for a short time, after which their paths will change – for better or for worse? In Transit, directed by Jaclyn Bethany, receives its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2025.
An artist and her new-found muse are the two very different women at the centre of writer/actor Alex Sarrigeorgiou’s feature In Transit, a gentle, queer-tinged drama set in snowy rural Maine.
Sarrigeorgiou is Lucy, a young woman who seems content living a quiet life with her longtime boyfriend Tom (François Arnaud), and working in the local bar. Life has a gentle rhythm that she is accustomed to, until one day Ilse (Jennifer Ehle) takes a seat at the bar and begins sketching Lucy.
Ilse is an artist who has come to Maine on retreat as she is ‘stuck’ with her work and is trying to find inspiration away from the city. She asks Lucy if she would pose for her sometime and, after much thought, Lucy accepts. Around the same time, Lucy discovers that the bar is to be sold, which means that everything she’s ever known is about to change.
At this juncture in both the women’s lives, the time they spend together in Ilse’s studio appears to be a turning point for both. There’s no doubting Lucy’s beauty and stillness of presence, and Ilse spends time trying to find exactly the right pose to paint, but nevertheless there’s something missing, a distance between artist and model, which needs to be bridged if Ilse’s work is to be enough to satisfy her artistic vision.
Jennifer Ehle is far and away the outstanding part of this film. Ilse’s loss of artistic inspiration makes her feel vulnerable and unable to express herself properly, yet there’s a constant edginess to her behaviour which may be artistic angst, or may be asking if we can actually trust her. Perhaps the women are helping each other through a time of transition, or perhaps they’re each using the other to achieve a goal. Ehle is really good at this, and if you’re playing against someone of her calibre, then you’d better be sure that your chosen actor has the range and depth to match her.
The best word to sum up In Transit is chilly. The bleak landscapes, the pared-back colour palette, the lack of any great passion; the women are individually searching for what they each need, but the push and pull of their relationship means they never find it at the same time.
In Transit has its World Premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival (14th – 20th August 2025) on 17th August 2025.
Share this:
Like this:
Discover more from The Movie Isle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.