Review of Adrift (2018) by Dawdlingpoet — 28 Nov 2021

This film is an easy watch I suppose but I didn't feel it really 'worked' for me. First off, it keeps swapping chronology, in as much as in one scene the main characters are getting to know each other, excited by the prospects of sailing to many exciting parts of the world etc. and moments later, we're shown the characters trying to deal with the stark situation their faced with, trying to survive on the boat unable to run properly. I felt frustrated that it seemed like we (the viewer) aren't given all the details about what happened beforehand, what precisely led to the scenario we're shown near the start, until much later on. Of course, I suppose thats the intriguing bit, what the filmmakers hope you'll keep watching for but it didn't really appeal to me greatly. Personally, I tend to prefer a more traditional timeline in films, as I find myself imagining me being in the characters shoes, wondering what will happen next and so on.

Also, there's the aspect that the main characters are (I assume) fairly comfortably well off, so during scenes of them talking about their hopes and likes etc., I can't say I felt particularly bothered about whether they achieved those goals or not, given a lot of people likely never get the chance to try and achieve them but thats not to say that I didn't feel sorry for them at all when things took the inevitable turn for the worse. I felt distinctly lukewarm about this but the acting is decent enough and I wouldn't say I wasn't at all curious about what happened to them ultimately - the sense of perserverance this film contains is admirable. Plus there's also the fact that it is based on a true story I believe and I do like films based on true stories, there's no doubt about that. Its an interesting watch but I'm not sure I'd specifically recommend it as such, unless your really interested in the story.