Dérive mortelle

Interesting one this.I liked the film.It set you in the scene,what would you do? How would you cope?I like films that put me there and make me question how id behave in similar circumstances.Okay,it doesn't feature any big star names and its direction and stylisation is pretty non existent but its a compact little film that myself and my partner enjoyed as a piece of throwaway entertainment on a Saturday night.I since watched Open Water which i didn't enjoy as much as this.I like that the ending is open to interpretation also,its adds a spooky element to the film.I think being stranded and abandoned is one of our primal fears, this film taps into that fear effectively.

I seem to be in a bit of a minority here, but I loved 'Open Water", thought it was one of the best low budget films to date, and made me fear the ocean all over again ...(thanks "Jaws"!!). So I was pretty excited when I saw this on the shelf, had no qualms shelling out some dosh, and I am so pleased that I did ... Possibly even better than the first, talented (if fairly unknown) actors, and just a great premise ..... I can see how something like this might happen,a stupid mistake that can have very real consequences, and while I was sitting comfortably on my chair in my lounge, thinking "you should try this or try that", (which they mostly did anyway), I'm sure thinking logically whilst bobbing about in the very cold ocean is not so easy ..... I loved it, made me squirm, had to look away at times, and really felt for all the characters and their different ways of dealing (or not) with the situation ..... A great film.

On the whole I preferred this more that the prequel Open Water (I know Adrift was the unofficial sequel, but you know what I mean). I hated Open Water. The two protagonists were unpleasant and, for me, the film lacked the suspense and terror people would have you believe.

Adrift, however, had more potential, with more characters, albeit not much more likable, and even a baby. The first hour or so was almost edge of your seat stuff, with the true horror of their desperate situation being depicted perfectly. However, once I'd got used to the fact that they were in the water and there was little hope of them getting back aboard, I lost interest and it all became a bit tedious. Putting horribly shallow individuals in deep water (nice) with little chance of salvation results in a complete lack of viewer sympathy, which ultimately impacts the movie experience. Furthermore, a needlessly ambiguous and nonsensical ending added frustration into the mix.

I guess they shot two endings but couldn't decide which to use, so they just showed us both. Watch the whole thing then presented with that. Stupid.

The ending was quite confusing, but the rest of the movie was suspenseful and kept one on edge. In answer to a previous review, there was an anchor (it showed it several times) but it was not lowered. As far as drifting, the yacht did have grab handles on the front that the characters were holding on to. I'm not sure how it really works on a yacht, but it seems like there should be some way to lower the ladder from outside the boat within reach of the characters.