
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Andrew Scott, Rafe Spall, Jessica Hynes, Harry Enfield, Dane Hughes, Orla Hill, Teddy-Rose Malleson-Allen, Bobby McCulloch, Seren Hawkes, Hannah Jayne Thorp
On holiday in the Lake District, the Walker children wish to camp on an island. Venturing there on the boat "Swallow", they discover two children are already there, the Blacketts, who call themselves "Amazons". As they battle for the island, two Russian agents search for the Blackett's uncle.

Then there's the forced attempts at conflict, which could have been solved had the characters actually communicated with each other. The lacking dialogue merely feels like a lazy attempt to extend the plot for longer than necessary, resulting in a final act that's rather lacking, and comes off as half-hearted.
Swallows and Amazons is a family adventure that works best when that's actually the focus. When the focus is on the disparate Russian adventure, or a clear example of how the characters should actually share important details, the film sinks like a basket of food in the lake.

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