REVIEW: ‘Stromboli’ Has Nice Crust But Unseasoned Filling

Stromboli is a Netflix Original from director Michiel van Erp based on a book by Saskia Noort. When Sara (Elise Schaap) takes herself away to Stromboli for a holiday, the first night goes too far and she winds up kicked out of the house she’s staying in, losing her bag with her phone and money in it, and spends the night sleeping on a church pew. That’s where Jens (Christian Hillborg) finds her and brings Sara to stay at his program for individuals recovering from various forms of trauma. Of course, at first, she’s hesitant to be participatory or trust his often aggressive approach to healing, but in time, she comes to value the community and trust built there.

Where Stromboli is strongest is in its editing. The movie is about uncovering Sara’s past as she encounters and relives her past and ongoing traumas. While the story itself isn’t especially outstanding, the way it’s presented is. Throughout the movie, you begin with moments where Sara walks into a room and briefly sees her ex-husband sitting there before the moment passes and the room is actually empty, for example. But as the movie progresses, especially at its climatic moment, the film intersperses seamlessly the characters engaging in a group therapy activity with scenes of Sara’s past in a brilliantly edited back and forth between the scenes and characters filling them.

The movie itself is a bit thin, though. None of the characters stand out as particularly interesting, aside from Jens. Even Sara feels a bit flat, as having experienced trauma and being in a recovery program don’t necessarily constitute a personality. The members of the group are all fair enough in their own rights, but nobody stands out. Thandi (Neerja Naik), a woman of an implied ambiguous South Asian background even feels like a caricature of a character, given she has virtually no role in the whole movie besides “looking” like she belongs running a recovery program with a “spiritual” component.

Jans is at least an interesting character because I cannot decide whether to appreciate his intense methods or fear them. I don’t think I’d ever want to be treated by Jans, nor do I think his aggressive methods of forcing people to relive and literally reenact their traumas would work well on me. But they work here, and in the context of the movie, don’t seem to make anybody uncomfortable so, good for him.

While it wouldn’t be proper to call Stromboli a romance of any kind, there is one small romantic element involving Sara and another Dutch member of the group Hans (Pieter Embrechts). The two have some coitus interruptus early in their knowing each other and go on to learn that they share a lot more than just attraction for one another. It culminates in the movie’s most powerful scene, held in a church confessional with some rather excellent writing and strong performances from both of them. It’s a bit melodramatic, but so is most of this movie. The whole thing feels like it’s often going for quirk but landing on awkward instead. This scene just squares the peg of drama nicely.

The story has its moving moments. Sara and the others get to learn that opening up and communicating can actually help them heal. But Stromboli doesn’t use its picturesque location nearly enough to its advantage. The movie takes place on a small volcanic island in the Mediterranean. There are a brief few moments that take place on the beach or the water or the summit, but they’re brief. You’d think a movie taking place in a place like this would use more of its location to its advantage instead of being confined to indoor locations or dark corners outside. The volcano of it all plays a part in the movie, sort of. It shakes a lot and once or twice does something weird to the camera where it blurs things maybe too much. But I struggle to find a real connection between why the volcano keeps shaking and what the characters are going through. Maybe I needed it more obviously spelled out for me, or maybe the connection just wasn’t very strong in the first place.

Stromboli is a fine movie about how finding community and communicating can help even the most stubborn and beleaguered people heal from trauma. Its plot and characters are quite thin, but the shell of an idea around it is satisfying enough to warrant some enjoyment from it.

Stromboli is streaming now on Netflix.