Adrift
(USA, 95 min.)
Dir. Baltasar Kormákur; Writ. Aaron Kandell, Jordan Kandell,
David Branson Smith
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin
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| Sam Claflin and Shailene Woodley star in Adrift VVS Films |
Adrift will inevitably headline Netflix’s playlist “Movies
with a Strong Female Lead,” but this film really needs to be seen in a theatre.
It’s a gripping romantic adventure on the high seas—Johnny Depp free!—as two
young lovers combat the elements and struggle to survive on open water. The
film sees YA franchises collide as Divergent’s Shailene Woodley teams up with The Hunger Games’ Sam Claflin to play Tami Oldman and to Richard Sharp. Tami and
Richard are real-world adventurers basking in the sunsets of the Pacific Ocean
on an ill-fated voyage home. A terrible storm leaves their ship ruined and
adrift in the water as they cling to life against the elements. Their love
story ensures that audiences will never let go while holding on to Adrift’s
adventure.
Not all is lost when Tami finds Richard floating lifelessly
on the boat’s dinghy. She saves him, but discovers he’s badly wounded with a
shattered leg and broken ribs among his injuries from the storm. (She has some
bad bruises and cuts, but nothing life threatening.) Richard might be the
experienced sailor of the two, but he instilled within Tami his passion for the
seas during their journey. She takes control of the sails determined to head
home.
Adrift invests audiences in the stakes of Tami’s voyage by
cutting back and forth from the scenes of the lovers on the boat to snippets
that reveal the strength of their relationship. Tami and Richard meet on the
docks and they’re a great match from the outset: as vagabond travellers, they
escape responsibilities by leading wandering lives and going wherever their
adventures take them. As Tami guides them home, Adrift crosscuts their present
struggle with their previous journey finding balance. They’re each other’s
anchors.
Romance on the high seas comes naturally thanks to the
gorgeous sunsets that offer bright red backdrops for their growing love.
Cinematographer Robert Richardson (Hugo, The Hateful Eight) fills the frame
with the glowing warmth of the fading sun in these flashbacks, making perfect
use of soft natural light to coax audiences into this relationship. Contrasted
with the darker, greyer images of the ruined ship carrying Tami and Richard, Adrift
finds bittersweet harmonies between the thrills of romance and suspense.
The film builds to the fateful storm, which proves a wild
white-knuckler of a ride even though everyone knows it is coming. Director
Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, The Deep) stages this scene spectacularly as the
roaring waves of the ocean crash down on the little boat. The intense physical
performances by Woodley and Claflin ensure that Tami and Richard hold on for
dear life as Kormákur pummels the boat with menacing black water. It’s a wild,
exhausting rush of a sequence that leaves one breathless. Adrift lets audiences
recover only to make them gasp again with a twist they won’t see coming.
True stories like these often elevate adventures since one
knows that the heroes weathered the storm. Don’t do any reading beforehand and
go into Adrift blind. Ignorance makes the reality of the adventure a much
wilder ride.
Adrift opens in theatres June 1.
