Danish filmmaker
Kristian Levring directs the Dogme 95-inspired period drama
The Intended, co-written by leading lady
Janet McTeer. Shot with digital video, the film takes place in the Malaysia jungle during the 1920s. Fortysomething British woman Sarah (
McTeer) travels with her younger fiancé, Hamish Winslow (
JJ Feild), to a small community near Borneo. Hamish has been hired to survey the land and map a road for a trading post run by a deeply dysfunctional family. The local ruler is tough matriarch Mrs. Jones (
Brenda Fricker), who dominates her son William (
Tony Maudsley) and nephew Norton (
Philip Jackson). When a climate change causes them to become even more isolated, the family tension takes a dark turn. Also starring
Olympia Dukakis.
The Intended premiered at the
2002 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide