ADRIFT: HOPE FLOATS

You might think the end credits for ADRIFT should be maybe Six Months in a Leaky Boat but the honour goes to Picture in a Frame by Tom Waits, a fitting song for the romance the two protagonists of this survival at sea saga.

Starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin , ADRIFT is based on the gruelling true story of two sailors who set out to journey across the ocean from Tahiti to San Diego. Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp, loved up sailor soul mates couldn’t anticipate they would be sailing directly into one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history.

In the aftermath of the storm, Tami awakens to find Richard badly injured and their boat in ruins. With no hope for rescue, Tami must find the strength and determination to save herself and the only man she has ever loved.

Based on Tami Oldham Ashcraft’s incredible true story of perseverance, grit, tragedy of which she chronicled the harrowing events of her 41-day journey from shipwreck to safety in her book, “Red Sky in Mourning: A True Story of Love, Loss and Survival at Sea.” The title is a rueful riff on the adage, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.”

But no mariner’s lore could have prepared Tami or her fiancée, Richard, in 1983 for the hurricane that shifted course and bore down on their 44-foot yacht.

Half of the movie is the harrowing time at sea, the other half is taken up by the back story of their whirlwind romance. It allows us to find out a bit about their origins and why they are both nomadic seafarers.

Woodley and Caflin are a tremendously attractive presence on screen, and she in particular, has to carry the weight of the drama once they are adrift.

Viking director, BALTASAR KORMÁKUR is at the helm of ADRIFT, obviously an aficionado of survival sagas having helmed EVEREST a couple of years ago.

Shot by triple Oscar winner, Robert Richardson, in Fiji and New Zealand, ADRIFT is always visually stunning and consistently compelling in its narrative of insistent survival.