Oil on Water centers on the relationship of a young, creative, and successful couple, Anna and Max, who are living the life most people dream of, in a beach house bought with an inheritance from Maxʼs grandfather. As an artist, Max has found the perfect muse in Anna, and he is working towards his first solo art exhibition at a local gallery. 

 

Rejected by her father as a child, Anna has confronted her trust issues with Max and she is content in her life with him. As a spiritual seeker and as a journalist, she is committed to the truth and to exposing things for what they are. But when Max begins to manifest strange behaviour that he cannot explain and Anna cannot understand, she is unable to confront the truth about Max, about her relationship with him or about their life together, which is threatening to be altered forever. As Max starts experiencing more and more strange ‘phenomena’ it leads to his emotional withdrawal from Anna and the life they have shared. The change in Max is mirrored in the unraveling of Anna as she goes from contentment to utter hopelessness in the face of this incomprehensible change.

 

Desperate not to lose the life she loves or the man she loves, Anna clings to her belief that by loving Max unconditionally, he will return to his former self - which she tells of in her writing - until she has no choice but to face the truth about who Max has become. As the real reason for Maxʼs alteration is exposed, Anna is finally able to understand that in everything she has lost - in the ending - her real journey is only just beginning.

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Oil on Water is an intriguing exploration of life and art, loss and unconditional love, mental disorder and the search for meaning.

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