Sarah Houbolt

A solitary scholar discovers an ancient bottle while on a trip to Istanbul and unleashes a djinn who offers her three wishes. Filled with reluctance, she is unable to come up with one, so the djinn tries to inspire her with his stories.

“I don’t believe in love because I’ve never seen it,” responds a young woman to an unseen interviewer in the first few minutes of the movie. This bleak portrait of loneliness and social exclusion is set on the edge of a desolate swamp where an aging clown and his daughter are struggling to survive. The location could be the end of the world, a place where hope has vanished along with a belief in the afterlife and the existence of God. The two unfortunates live together without the likelihood of change, as fear, aggression, and anger take hold of them – but they also experience sudden moments of tenderness.

Shakespeare’s tale of teen love reimagined as a rock opera set in a beachside caravan park. A triumphant blast of style and 21st-century Kiwi trailer trash pop. Classic tragedy probably shouldn’t be quite this much fun.