Adrift | Film Review

Hey Guys x

I saw this the day that it came out in the UK - I wanted to see it since I first saw the trailer months ago, because it just looked like a nail-biting, thrilling movie with a healthy influx of romance, and that really excited me.

It's about two people called Tami and Richard who meet unexpectedly and fall in love extremely quickly. When they get an offer to sail a family friend's boat from Tahiti to California for a hefty reward, they go for it, taking a romantic journey through calm seas. However, they don't count on sailing into one of the worst hurricanes in recorded history. So when Tami wakes up alone, she automatically thinks the worst. Even after she finds Richard, she can't let go of the feeling that they're going to die. However, due to Richard's horrific injuries, she knows that it's up to her. She can give up hope, or she could find the strength within herself to keep them alive, no matter what.

I thought this film was amazing.

First of all, it's based on a true story, which in itself is completely incredible. The things that Shailene Woodley does in the film are things that a real woman had to do. Going into the film with that mindset definitely brings something to it. Everything that happens has that much more of an impact because you know that it hasn't been thought up by a team of money-making professionals in a dark room with a creative mind. They are taken straight from the mouth of this real woman, and that really means something.

Then we have to talk about what this films rests on, for the most part - the chemistry between the main characters. If they didn't have chemistry, then the film wouldn't have been great at all. But there is chemistry between Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin. And that chemistry is what makes the audience become so invested in the film. A lot of the film is told through flashbacks where we see Tami and Richard as a couple, and I really believed that they had fallen in love.

The part of the film that isn't told through flashbacks is showing the present-day catastrophe that they're trapped in. This is, in my opinion, some of Woodley's best work. She has to embody inner strength, while also exhibiting intelligence and physical strength, and I doubt that this was easy for her to do. But she did it extremely well and really made the film what it was.

Overall, I think this film was incredible - both the true story, and the film's interpretation of it. I would definitely recommend it to anyone because there's something in it for everyone.

Also, when I went to see it on opening night, there were only like 5 other people in the cinema. Please go to the cinema and see this film, because it really deserves the same attention that a lot of the big blockbusters get!

Lou