Review of Adrift (2018) by Jared S — 11 Oct 2018

Strengths: Anyone who watches this movie will see one thing stand out above all others. Shailene Woodley (Tami Oldhman) is spectacular. She continues to deliver in everything she works in, with this ranking at the top of her body of work. Woodley is fantastic at portraying the many emotions needed throughout this film. Thereâ(TM)s desperation, determination, love, sadness, joy, and a slew of others. I canâ(TM)t rave enough about it. Sam Clafin (Richard Sharp) is solid and has strong chemistry with Woodley, making their scenes very emotional. The cinematography was quite good. The scenes of what caused the destruction came across as harrowing and a good job is done of showing the vast open water. It really hammers home how alone these people are.

Weaknesses: The idea behind the movie is kind of a tired one. Weâ(TM)ve seen these stories of survival before and are mostly predictable. That was the case here. I wasnâ(TM)t a fan of them pulling the rug out from under viewers. For those unaware, Richard dies at sea and most of the scenes of the couple together are hallucinated. I understood why it was done and it was well executed, but it still felt cheap. I also didnâ(TM)t really get behind the storytelling style of cutting back and forth between past and present. It messed with the pacing. I feel it wouldâ(TM)ve worked better if it started with the wreckage, then went back to build us up to the moment. The cuts were frequent and jarring.

Overall: Adrift is a good, but flawed film. It has a few too many clichà (C)s and a strange narrative decision. However, Woodley is gripping and more than enough of a reason to give this a shot.