The one overwhelmingly beautiful thing about British film Make Up is just how deftly is mashes up genres in the first half.

Unfortunately, the thing that makes it stand apart also allows the film to become an incongruous, incoherent mess by the third act.

Part suspense flick, part romantic drama mixed with a dash of horror, it never quite finds equal footing, leaving the entire affair feeling like a waste.

Writer-director Claire Oakley makes a film about a woman who heads to a remote campground in Cornwall to be with her boyfriend in a small camper.

While there, she begins to think he’s cheating on her, which sparks off a labyrinth of mysteries and revelations that could destroy their relationship.

The film is too bizarre for the love angle to be engaging, and Molly Windsor’s central performance is too one-note for us to care.

I get the feeling the actors are more limited by the script than their talent, and while I appreciate the attempt by Oakley to distinguish herself in her debut, it just doesn’t work.

There’s a great film in Oakley, but Make Up isn’t it.

2/5 Stars