The Island (2018)

"Do you want to stay in the darkness forever?"

Huang Bo wrote, directed, and starred in The Island. A hapless worker sets off on a business retreat that goes terribly wrong when a meteor hurtles toward Earth on the same day his luck with the lottery changes.

Ma Jin and his cousin, Xiao Xing join the rest of the office and their boss on a water bus cruise for a team building exercise. Ma Jin has a crush on the beautiful and elusive Shan Shan who is also on the trip. Fate brought together a meteor and a winning lottery ticket, both of which will not only change Ma Jin’s life, but everyone on the bus as well. After plunging through a ginormous wave that hurls them far from home, the bus lands on a deserted island. The group discovers themselves cut off from the “real” world and completely dependent on each other for survival. A new social hierarchy takes place when they vote on a leader.

I was afraid The Island would be another version of Lord of the Flies. While it did show how society breaks down when people are desperate for food and shelter, it didn’t devolve into a murderous melee. Four different people wore the crown at different times and all four succumbed to the allure of leadership. The first dictator led through intimidation and punishment with his mighty shushing stick. The 2nd claimed to be a leader of thinking and bartering but was a liar and cruel capitalist. The 3rd brought two factions together and gave the group hope, but also slid down the slippery slope of popularity and success which led him to lose track of his moral compass. The 4th leader was a man who finally had power after too long being invisible and it broke him.

“Since all the past is gone, life can start over again.”
Ma Jin held to his lottery ticket like a life line, willing to do anything to stay alive and return home and collect his money. A divine coincidence occurred that caused him to be reborn at the time of his deepest despair. The stranded group had to come to terms with what was Real. Real living? Real hope? And Real land? Money became irrelevant in their society. Believing the world to be mostly underwater, they had to eventually rise above their selfishness and work together for survival and harmonious living. Characters learned to trust and love in their microcosm. Ma Jin even found his confidence that had long been missing.

Huang Bo gave a solid performance as Ma Jin, a character who evolved throughout the film. The gorgeous Shu Qi as Shan Shan was not given enough to do other than look beautiful amongst the bedraggled shipwreck survivors. Lay Zhang as the friend and often perplexed Xiao Xing showed his character’s loss of himself quite well.

The Island remained compelling though it did drag in places. The dark comedy took its characters to the ledge of cruelty and madness but decided to err on the side of hope and love. What it did well was to show how the castaways reacted to the stresses of survival and what it revealed in themselves and how a community can thrive when the people set aside their greed and need to dominate if only for short periods of time. Most importantly, it proved that even on a desolate island, there’s always time for a choreographed dance sequence.

12 February 2024

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