Screens August 14 

There’s trouble in paradise. Alicia (Juno Temple), possibly the most neurotic human alive, has never left the United States. When she lands in remote Chile for a getaway with her cousin’s friends, she should be excited. Instead, you should be suspicious. As her companions settle into the aimlessness of holiday life, Alicia’s fear of the foreign turns into outright paranoia. Sebastian Silva’s direction sees everything both ways: from the scenic, cruel beauty of Chile’s landscape, to how even well-intentioned gossip can seem like sinister plotting to a mind so disposed. What Alicia wants is parental coddling; what she needs is serious treatment. Empathy isn’t enough. Whether the characters ignore Alicia or treat her like a rational adult, they might as well be sociopaths. She’s such an unlikeable protagonist that it makes us wonder if we’d have any patience for her at all if we met her in real life. No one’s entirely to blame for her plight, yet we’re all complicit. Magic Magic isn’t what it seems; though it’s billed as a psychological thriller, it's really a 97-minute retreat into the foetal position.