February 7, 2025
Tess Macfarlane, a British documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist, is hoping to give her career a boost by filming a research project for Seawild, an ecology organization. They are protecting the monk seals on Ilhas Desertas off the coast of Madeira, Portugal. Tess will be working with an international group of researchers on Navigaceo, the most remote island in the group, which has been uninhabited for 50 years, and she must document the team's work. She is surprised that the job offer was quick but signs on despite her unease. When she arrives, she finds a body while filming, and it is clear the body has not been dead for 50 years. As Tess continues filming and exploring the island, her equipment disappears, and other members of the team die. She must survive, and she does not know whom, if anyone, she can trust. Though few of the characters are truly likable (not a requirement for a compelling story, certainly), Griffin (The Second Stranger, 2023) has created an interesting variation on the locked-room mystery.
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