Unfairly marketed as Open Water 2 in some territories, Hans Horn’s similarly themed aquatic movie manages to be better than Open Water and deserves praise on its own merits under UK title Adrift.
The plot sees a reunion amongst friends on a yacht go awry when they jump into the ocean for a swim having forgotten to lower the ladder first. As the group tire of swimming and get cold, they soon realise that there is no way back on board the luxury yacht. As the sun begins to set, the group battle to survive the elements and each other.
Starting in familiar territory with some home video footage, Adrift quickly dives into the present day and to the yacht as we meet our cast and discover lead character Amy’s aquaphobia.
The film takes its time establishing the links between the group, before loser Dan (Eric Dane) decides to cure Amy (Susan May Pratt) of her fear and jumps into the ocean with her. Amy slips into a catatonic state and the group attempts to get her back on board, which is when they realise that there is no ladder on the yacht.
The friends try desperately to get back on board as tempers flare. There’s just one more problem. Amy and husband James had brought their newborn baby along on the trip and she’s still on board.
Hans Horn’s film worked better for me as it was more about the character relationships as opposed to a bickering couple trying to avoid being eaten by sharks. It also looked more like a film as opposed to a home video.
The cast who are all familiar faces, do great jobs and we ultimately manage to care about them (even the character of Michelle, who I hoped was going to get a smack in the mouth when she started wailing and freaking everyone out).
To us in the cinema, the task the group faced seemed easy, but perspective has a lot to do with that and the characters subtly remind us that they are tired from the various attempts to get on board, and cold from being exposed for so long.
These attempts at climbing aboard seem rational and a few are even mildly amusing such as the idea to ‘nude up’ and make a rope from everyone’s swim wear, which stirs things up for audience members when the group start diving about in the nude.
In the end the film is harrowing, sad even. The resolution didn’t work so well for me and it also left the fate of one character unanswered, despite the fact we almost know the answer anyway.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Adrift has more going for it than Open Water as there is far more at stake, namely the most adorable baby you could imagine crying its little heart out as its mother flails in the water literally meters away unable to help. It won’t appeal to many teenagers in search of dramatic set pieces, but for serious audiences it’s definitely worthwhile.
