Adrift film review

certificate_15

ADRIFT

Another year, another stranded-at-sea movie. But despite being second out of the starting gate after the international success of Open Water, German director Hans Hohn has fashioned a superior water-based thriller with Adrift. There's an old-fashioned feel to his film which recalls a time when clever plotting and creating suspense were more important factors in making a good thriller than marketing ploys, and it has enough unexpected twists to make it a memorable and recommendable affair.

Six college friends meet for a weekend reunion on a luxury yacht somewhere off the coast of Mexico. Some of them have settled and married while others are still living a student life. Shortly into their trip an incident occurs which leaves them all stranded in the ocean, and the initial jokes about their situation soon disperse into a feeling of mild panic when they realize that it's actually going to be quite difficult to get back on their vessel.

Although the set-up is pretty simple, it's the execution that really pays off here. The manner in which the group ends up overboard is intelligently done and not to be revealed in a review. It leads to a Sisyphean task for the crew, as they cling onto the hull of the ship without being able to board. Suffice to say if you enjoy films such as The Music of Chance where characters face seemingly insurmountable obstacles, then this is for you.

Their plight is heightened by some excellent location camerawork which brings the viewer into the core of the floaters - quite often you feel that you are treading water alongside them. Finally, Hohn has chosen an excellent up-and-coming cast who work well together as the seriousness of their situation becomes all too frighteningly real.

We should be thankful that in this day and age that a thriller such as Adrift shows that it's not necessary to rely on improbable shocks, unbelievable monsters and flashy gimmicks. Instead this is a successful psychological twister which delivers some pleasant and unexpected surprises, and build the tension in a manner not unrelated to the classic seafaring thriller, Jaws, even without the synthetic shark. Hollywood would do well to take note.

Paul Hurley