The promotional poster for Joanna Hogg's second feature, Archipelago, includes a  definition of the term: “A group of scattered islands in a large body of water”. It beautifully encapsulates the tenuousness of the relation that joins otherwise very different members of a family, a link that is often nothing more than an accident of birth, or, as in this case, geography.

The film is about an upper-middle class family's holiday on Tresco, one of the isles of Scilly, a holiday which is meant to serve as a send-off for the son, Edward (Tom Hiddleton), who is just about to leave for Africa for 11 months to work as a sexual health volunteer. However, rather than providing a cheery farewell, resentments and frustrations soon start to appear. The distance and lack of understanding between family members is excruciatingly captured by long, lingering shots, and equally lingering silences, which are rendered all the more agonizing, though often hilarious, when they implicate non-family members, such as the mother's painting instructor, Christopher (Christopher W. Baker) or the cook, Rose (Amy Lloyd).

Mother, son and daughter are subject to a slow-boil in the small confines of their holiday cottage, and this tension culminates in an explosive argument between the mother and daughter.  However, the rows and flare-ups are not permanent. Explicit or tacit apologies are given and accepted, and when the family leaves the island at the end of the holiday there is a sense of unstated re-conglomeration.

Painting is central to the film, and Christopher, talking to Edward on the subject, comments that sometimes you want chaos in order to see what's right. Whilst this may be true of art, its application to family conflict is less clear. Despite the re-conglomeration, it is far from certain that the arguments have had any salutary effect on the family as a whole. However, it does seem that they, along with Christopher's paternal guidance, do help Edward to resolve himself in his desire to go to Africa – they seem to make at least one family member realise what's right for them.

Time Out has well observed that is a very English affair, but it is perhaps more accurate to say that it is a very middle-class English affair. Notwithstanding this, one of the film's greatest virtues is its being markedly non-judgemental of its characters. Moreover, back-stories are judiciously hinted at, rather than predictably unfolded. The acting as a whole is excellent, but Tom Hiddleston and Kate Fahy (mother) deserve special note. What is more generally exciting is that Joanna Hogg seems to be carving out a distinctive niche in the cinemascape, in the form of a kind of middle-class kitchen-sink drama. I recommend watching her first film, Unrelated, seeing Archipelago, and keeping an eye out for her next feature.