RAIN is set in New Zealand in the 1970's, but it could be anywhere, anytime. It's a sad tale about a family in the final stage of disintegration. The parents, teenage daughter and young son communicate only in occasional short bursts, so we learn about them from their gestures, actions and facial expressions.
Their summer holiday in a beach-front bach (holiday home) is a paradise gone sour, with the adults drowning their frustrations and disappointments in booze. Even the partying and midnight skinny-dipping isn't much fun seen through this movie's jaundiced lens. Casual, thoughtless flirtations finally lead to tragedy and the innocent suffer most.
The deceptively simple but intriguing story is open to various interpretations, and if you like small scale movies with an original take on life you should enjoy this movie. But don't expect a series of dramatic events, it's a quiet and slow-paced movie with convincing acting reinforced by a low-key sound-track.
