Rose of Nevada is a Cornish mystery that lingers

Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada arrives in UK cinemas on 24th April 2026, with London audiences among those encountering its slow, unsettling pull.

Rose of Nevada is the latest film by Cornish auteur Mark Jenkin who has risen to prominence over the last couple of years for his striking use of 16mm film to capture gritty visuals that make his work distinct. Rose of Nevada weaves a Cornish folktale surrounding a couple of young men who take a boat, the titular Rose of Nevada, out to sea and come back to a home thirty years in the past. The film delves into territories of sci-fi and in particular the concepts of time travel while also offering a haunting ambience that lends itself to horror undertones.

Mark Jenkin is a true auteur, his films are visually and stylistically distinct but what’s more is Jenkin also takes on not only the role of director but also the role of this film’s cinematographer, editor, co-writer and composer. The individuality of this production translates into a creative control not often seen within modern cinema, it allows for a very particular tone to be struck and carried through the entire runtime of Rose of Nevada.

Jenkin orchestrates this mysterious anachronistic atmosphere whether it be through the ominous haunting score or the emphasis placed on particular textures such as the rusting of metal or the erosion of stone. Throughout Rose of Nevada something doesn’t sit quite right, as we get swept into the mystery of the young sailor’s situation a surreal pit begins to form in our stomachs, one that grows but rarely gets the relief of answers.

At the heart of Rose of Nevada is a pair of performances from two talented British rising stars in George MacKay and Callum Turner. MacKay portrays Nick, our protagonist and justified questioner to the situation they find themselves in. George MacKay performs with a stoicism, one that is well suited for the rugged Cornish fishing village around him and allows for the film to be told more through Nick’s visual observations and ponderings rather than dialogue. Rose of Nevada is a relatively quiet film, dialogue is sparse and we go scenes without much sound at all. Tension builds and mystery grows within the silence, Jenkin relieves that buildup with some well placed scenes of absolute chaos as the ship’s crew must carry out their jobs in the dead of night with the waves crashing against them. Callum Turner is the foil to George MacKay’s Nick as he portrays the charming outsider Liam.

Whereas MacKay’s Nick consciously propels the narrative forward with his confusion surrounding their situation, Turner’s Liam instead falls into the routine of the mystery, being used by Jenkin to explore the horrors of their loss in identity in a different way. Turner is charming and adds passing moments of comedy to this otherwise moody film. Accompanying the two young men on this voyage is a whimsical Francis Magee as the ship’s captain and in the village we’re offered a series of performances from Rosalind Eleazar, Mary Woodvine and Edward Rowe who are tasked with portraying these Cornish villagers in two very different decades.

Rose of Nevada isn’t simply a different aesthetic than we’re used to in contemporary cinema, with its noisy grain and vintage sound recording, it’s also rich in themes and ideas, so many ideas in fact it’s hard to pin down quite what Rose of Nevada is actually trying to say. The entire film is a mystery, at points I found myself analysing the concept of time and erosion and what it can do to a small fishing village like this, Mark Jenkin has shown his love of exploring the concept of gentrification within Cornwall and at times Rose of Nevada seems no different.

At other points the film takes on a more nihilistic quality as it proposes ideas and thoughts on identity and individuality and at other times I found myself piecing together a narrative exploring the sociological perspective of climate change. This isn’t to say that Rose of Nevada is thematically messy, it’s quite the contrary, the film weaves in several themes and ideas to enhance the mystery and bring the confusion the characters are experiencing back to the viewer.

Five parts mysterious for every part it is beautiful, Mark Jenkin constructs a film that is thematically dense and visually rich. While Rose of Nevada may have audiences scratching their heads, others will be rewarded for the task of interpreting the film for oneself.

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