Review of Adrift (2018) by Gabriel F — 13 Dec 2018

You open your eyes. "How long was I out for?" The boat you've been sailing the ocean in is destroyed. Debris everywhere, you wonder where you are. Your body aches; you have a sharp pain and realize you have a gash in your head. Richard!! Where's Richard?! You fight your way up to the main deck to realize that Richard is nowhere to be found. As you look around you it starts to sink in. You are all alone, stranded, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This was reality for 24 year old Tami as she discovered that she had a long journey ahead of her if she wanted to survive.

The movie "Adrift", directed by Baltasar Kormakur, is the true story of Tami Oldham and her 41 day journey being stranded after a huge and violent storm on the yacht that her and her love, Richard Sharp had been paid to sail from Tahiti to San Diego. As she comes to, after being knocked out from the violence of the storm, Tami realizes that Richard was thrown overboard and that she is now alone. She begins to make repairs on the yacht, patching holes, draining intruding water, and repairing the sail. As she looks out across the horizon she sees something. There in the distance she sees the overturned lifeboat with Richard clinging to it. She tries to get the wrecked boat to steer closer to Richard and she finally jumps off to meet him, as she swims out to him she realizes he is not in good shape, nonetheless he is still alive. She has to swim back to the boat while dragging Richard with her and then she pulls him back onto the boat to find out that the extent of his injuries are much greater than she had thought. With a concussion, shattered leg and internal trauma to his torso he clings to life itself as he lay helpless on the boat.

Tami is determined to find help. After determining where the yacht is located in the ocean, Tami finds that Hawaii is their best shot for survival. As she tries to steer the wrecked vessel toward the islands of Hawaii, she reflects on the last few months of her life as she traveled the world, sailing from one place to the other, remembering how she ended up in Tahiti and fell in love with Richard, who sailed into her life while on his own adventure traveling the world.

As you watch this movie you are filled with many emotions. You feel the happiness Tami and Richard share. Their connection and sense of adventure are contagious and addicting and you feel as if you are able to embark with them as they explore and enjoy their lives. You can almost put yourself on the boat with them, and you feel the helplessness they must have felt as storm crashed upon them. As the waves towered over them and as their seemingly small boat was thrown around you feel the adrenaline and fear of being swallowed up by the ocean. After the storm calms and they come to, it is easy to feel the stresses of being stranded in the middle of the ocean. Having very little supplies you have to carefully ration your food and water even though you are so hungry and extremely dehydrated. You worry about how things will turn out. Will they live? How long will they be out there? What will happen next?!

A common theme that was focused on a lot in this movie was the beauty of adventure. This movie shows many beautiful things this world and life have to offer and how great joy can be reached through adventure and exploring the unknown. Though exhilarating and fun, sometimes life's adventures can present obstacles and challenges to overcome and grow from. Maybe we all won't get stranded in the middle of the ocean but we do get to the point where we might feel "stranded" in other aspects of life and we need to find a way to stay motivated and have faith that things will work out. This movie is comparable to "Unbroken" (2014) because like Louie, Tami had to be strong and fight through her difficulties. She had to have hope for the "light" This movie is a great example of perseverance and faith as Tami works at overcoming the obstacles of finding a way to survive while trying to care for the boat and for Richard who can do nothing but lay and try to recover. As one watches, they can't help but want to encourage her as she shows great determination to survive.

There are a lot of great messages that can be learned from this movie. Many of the things different characters say can be very impactful and motivating to those who watch. One of the great lessons that Richard teaches Tami is, "you can do anything you put your mind too". This is an important message because over the process of the movie, Tami is faced with different challenges like learning how to sail, trying to survive on the wrecked boat and trying to take care of Richard while doing that. Another impressive part of the movie is after Tami and Richard have been stranded for awhile, Richard says that he wishes he had never met Tami so she wouldn't have had to have gone through getting stranded in the middle of the ocean but what Tami says in return is very moving. She says something to the effect that she wouldn't have traded that experience for the world. In life, some of the most influential moments we have are from the times we have to struggle and fight and when everything feels like it's going to crash down on you. In those same moments, the relationships with the people we meet and who help us through those times are worth all the pain and difficulties. I feel like Tami feels that same way as she remembers all of the great moments she had with Richard and her struggle to survive on the stranded boat taught her to persevere and problem solve through hard times. This is moving because it is important that we understand that life will challenge us in ways we can't even imagine but those challenges are to make us stronger and teach us many valuable things.

This movie is very inspirational. I really enjoyed the journey and seeing the different joys of traveling and "letting the currents take you to where you need to end up". I thought it was fun to see Tami and Richard and their growth as a couple and the love and fun they shared. I thought it was amazing that this is a true story and that Richard and Tami were daring to cross the ocean and put themselves at the mercy of the elements and then the fight to survive after things took a turn for the worst. I was reminded to find the adventures in life and just soak them up. I was inspired to make my journey special and worthwhile. This is a great movie for those who want to go on an adventure and experience the power of nature and the amazing abilities of people when they are dedicated and determined to defy the odds.