Dérive mortelle

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.

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.

From the start I was glued to the screen. The acting was good and believable and the plot was tense. Okay the plot may seem a bit dumb I hear you say, after all who forgets to put the ladder on their yacht down before jumping in the ocean, but hey apparently it'a a true story.

Basically the whole film is based around these guys and girls stuck in the ocean 'cos some moron forgot to put the ladder down before they all jumped in. One by one they get bumped off by a bump on the head, a knife wound, etc etc. I found myself thinking why doesn't one of them just lend one of the other members of the team their shoulders to 'bunk them up' so to speak so they can get up on to the deck.

It does seem to have minor influence from Dead Calm, but it's a much lower budget film I'm sure. The ending is confusing as hell. Are they all dead or not? I don't think the film maker intended to confuse us viewers, more likely he got stuck for a good ending and so made something that is not clearly defined and is rather disappointing.

Not a bad film but the ending really disappoints and confuses. Your mind will be boggling for days. I would suggest watching Saw instead.

The film was supposed to have been based on "true events". Yes, I'm sure it was - very, very, very loosely based. Some of the acting was nearly good enough to cover the gaping holes in the plot, but never enough to conceal the basic absurdity of it all. To the UK newspaper reviewer who allegedly said "You'll be on the edge of your seat!" I can only concede that I was - this was only because my wife had hold of the waistband of my trousers to prevent me leaving the cinema. The ending was extremely unsatisfactory and I was left feeling very sorry for the actors, whose performances are the only reason I've rated it as highly as a 5.

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.