Hogg says that Archipelago is a metaphor for a family just out of touch with one another; “The title relates to the family as a group of islands, linked together beneath the surface. What often links a family together goes unspoken and unacknowledged. Families are a way of protecting individuals from what they need to hear, and often they have techniques for avoiding the real issues.” 
The weather in the Isles of Scilly is usually temperate, but Hogg’s weather is coolish, and her picnickers wear winter garb. At their picnic, each sits separately like little tombstones bracing themselves against the offshore wind.
There isn’t much conversation. And when Edward says he wants to make a difference and will go for his new job working to combat AIDS somewhere in Africa, no one believes him. He says, “If I can stop one person, one 13-year-old, if I can connect with just one person.” After a pause, they talk about food: Can I have an apple? Of course, you can. Does anyone else want this apple, OK? No more brownies? Are you sure?
According to the screenplay, they carry baskets with sandwiches, hummus, brownies, apple crisps, dips, caviar, and champagne.
Featured Image: How they endure such a glum picnic. Christopher (Christopher Baker), Patricia (Kate Fahy), (Rose), Amy Lloyd, Cynthia (Lydia Leonard), and Edward (Tom Hiddleston)
See Joanna Hogg. Archipelago (2014). Screenplay by Joanna Hogg; Quentin Falk, “Joanna Hogg: Interview.” http://guru.bafta.org/joanna-hogg-interview