Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Holiday Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 4, 2020

Isabella Eklöf's "Holiday" (2018) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Anti-Worlds/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; Q&A session with the director; deleted scene; and more. Also included with the release is a 28-page illustrated booklet with writings on the film and technical credits. In Danish and English, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

It is hard to take this film seriously not because the scenario it describes is improbable, but because its blame game is incredibly weak.

The main protagonist is a beautiful Danish girl named Sascha (Victoria Carmen Sonne) who lands in the Turkish Riviera to spend time with her boyfriend. Immediately after she exits the airport, however, it becomes crystal clear that she is in fact a mule on a payroll who does important deliveries. She is picked up by some nasty character and after he reminds her what is expected of her the two head to a posh villa on the beach. At the villa, Sascha is enthusiastically greeted by her ‘boyfriend’, Michael (Lai Yde), who turns out to be a vicious drug lord overseeing multiple pushers that supply all of the nearby resorts with cheap drugs. Michael’s wife, children, and some of his closest friends are staying in the villa as well.

From afar the Danes look like ordinary tourists who have come to the Turkish Riviera to enjoy the beautiful summer weather. They spend most of their time at the beach and at night routinely mingle with the crowds in the clubs. However, when Sascha befriends a single Dutchman (Thijs Romer) and then goes out with him, Michael goes berserk and sends a clear message that she belongs to him. Initially it appears that the message has been received, but when Sascha returns to her new friend to apologize for the ‘misunderstanding’ a few quick overreactions abruptly transform the nice Danes into dangerous animals.

Isabella Eklöf’s first feature film, Holiday, is a nihilistic shocker that pretends to be an eye-opener with a social conscience. It uses the despicable behavior of a psychotic drug lord and his lackeys to argue that in a borderless world young women, like Sascha, are destined to become victims because a supposedly very cruel socio-political system has abandoned them. To make its accusation appear legit, Eklof then spends practically the entire film placing Sascha in awful situations where she is repeatedly mistreated and abused. The culmination of the accusation is a long and very graphic rape that just about matches the intensity of that notoriously ugly sequence from Gaspar Noe’s shocker Irreversible.

Unfortunately for Eklof, Sascha’s ordeal effectively proves precisely the opposite, which is that indifference is usually the driving factor that produces the ‘social victims’ criminal elements like the ones in her film target. Furthermore, a large portion of the film makes it quite clear that Sascha is actually fully in control of her ‘victimhood’ and routinely outmaneuvers the supposedly stronger parties around her. It is a dangerous game that can produce some serious drama -- which is precisely what happens when Sascha’s ‘boyfriend’ calls out her role-playing -- but she has the ability to walk away from it at any time and never does. When at the end the perfect opportunity arrives to permanently break it, Sascha even does a bold move that ensures its survival.

When all is said and done it is very easy to pretend that the film goes as far as it does to raise awareness of some form of alarming toxicity -- and unsurprisingly this is precisely what Eklof does in the filmed Q&A session that is included on this release -- but it does not actually say anything meaningful about society. All it reveals is that criminals do criminal things and those that choose to stay with them are usually just as compromised as they are. The fact that from time to time weaker characters also choose to self-destruct does not change the dynamics of this sad relationship. It only proves that the old saying about playing with fire is entirely legit.

Holiday Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Holiday arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Anti-Worlds/Powerhouse Films.

The film looks superb in high-definition. I actually tried upscaling it to 4K and found it extremely difficult to spot any noticeable discrepancies because the 1080p visuals looked absolutely astonishing. Also, the fluidity, which is usually where native and upscaled to 4K content shows superiority, looked identical to my eyes. So, depth, clarity, and delineation are very impressive during well-lit and darker footage. Color reproduction is superb as well, especially during darker footage where some more subtle nuances emerge. There are no stability issues. Also, there are no encoding anomalies to report. Outstanding technical presentation. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Holiday Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with some portions of Danish). Optional English and English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I don't know if the film has a fully digital soundtrack, but if I had to guess I would say that it probably does and the lossless track is essentially a replica of the final studio master. The audio is very clean, sharp, and with strong depth that is usually present on modern soundtracks. Dynamic activity is modest, but this is how the soundtrack was created.

Holiday Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Q&A Session - Isabella Eklöf discusses the conception of Holiday, the casting process, the preparation and filming of the graphic rape sequence, the themes and issues the film is supposedly channeling through its story, etc. In English, not subtitled. (29 min, 1080p).

• Deleted Scene - a short deleted scene in which Sascha is harassed by a bunch of obnoxious Swedes. With printed English subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

• Isabella Eklöf: On Holiday - in this video interview, Isabella Eklöf discusses her background and the production of Holiday. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080p).

• Trailer - an original trailer for Holiday. In English and Danish, with printed English subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).

• Willy Kyrklund (2002) - a short film about author and poet Willy Kyrklund, directed by Isabella Eklöf. In Swedish, with optional English subtitles. (11 min, 720p).

• Booklet - an exclusive 28-page booklet containing new writing on the film by Anna Bogutskaya, an interview with Isabella Eklöf by Addy Fong, and film credits.

Holiday Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is the new trend -- discovering 'victims' everywhere and then blaming their misfortune and misery on some fundamental 'flaw' that has supposedly transformed society into a stunningly cruel oppressor. Isabella Eklöf's directorial debut is a byproduct of this trend and plays a very predictable and weak blame game that is quite simply impossible to take seriously. It did nothing for me because I was instantly able to tell that behind the game is just another nihilistic shocker. This upcoming release from Anti-Worlds/Powerhouse Films is sourced from a fantastic master and offers a 'reference quality' presentation of the film.