Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin may have starred in opposite Young Adult franchises but they unite in romantic survival drama Adrift. Telling the incredible true story of experienced sailors Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp, the film's exploration of love, loss and survival is steered by director Baltasar Kormákur, who tussles with the uneven weight of a thrilling survival story and a more syrupy romance.
After meeting and quickly falling in love, Tami (Woodley) and Richard (Claflin) agree to sail a yacht from Tahiti to San Diego in 1983. After sailing into Hurricane Raymond, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Pacific, they find themselves and the ship in ruins and, with Richard badly injured, Tami must find the strength and determination to save them, heading for Hawaii.
Adrift tells its stirring story by weaving in and out of timelines, a narrative decision that both helps and hinders the film. While crossing between the past and the present helps ensure the film remains tonally varied and effectively fluctuating, it impedes any momentum the film begins to create with the survival element of the story. Just as the intensity is about to hit fever pitch, it retreats, returning to the 'comfort' of their blossoming romance. It is this unsettled structure that holds Adrift back, preventing it from feeling like a smoother, more consistent picture; that's not to say suspense is altogether absent though as it's very much clear and palpable (particularly during the stormy scenes) but rarely hits the heights you expect it to, diffused by the script's back and forth.
Heavy-handed foreshadowing and signposting is Adrift's biggest flaw. While it may go unnoticed with some audience members, those who pick it up will find the film's early discussions damning towards a major twist. More subtlety in these moments would have led to a revelation that hit as hard as imaginable -- but a persisting sense of inevitability means that the moment in questions fails to surprise to those savvy to the twist. I'm equally as frustrated with the film as I am with myself for picking it up twenty minutes in, as the resolution's unfolding is done very effectively, but its power ultimately diluted.
Despite the script's deficiencies, Shailene Woodley is on hand with a committed, authentic and demanding (both physically and emotionally) performance that so excellently captures and balances Tami's strength and vulnerability during her toughest days. Her star-turn registers as one of (if not the) strongest performance of her career thus far, in a role she fully embodies from start to end, announcing her as a very versatile actress. She leaves a lasting impression as Tami, with a well-rendered performance that sells the film even during its rougher patches. She forms a strong chemistry with Sam Claflin, who is impressive in his own right but willingly relinquishes the spotlight to Woodley, overcoming the more mawkish and cliched elements of the romance that occasionally struggles to flourish and develop against the structural to-and-fro.
Director Kormákur does a tremendous job at bringing the scope and scale of the story to the screen. Enhanced by some breathtaking cinematography and framing from Robert Richardson, who turns Adrift into one of the most visually captivating films of the year, Kormákur does well to elicit the suspense and tension he does in spite of the structure's impediments. The final fifteen minutes are especially astonishing, brimming with beauty, resonance and power; while the rest of the film is unable to even begin approaching the level of emotion in the closing moments, it's a case of saving the best (or strongest) until last. The use of Emiliana Torrini's I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You is completely stunning, alongside Hauschka's beautiful, moving score. I was taken aback by the execution of the tender concluding sequences and imagine that would be increased ten-fold had the twist not been foretold quite so clearly.
When Adrift gets it right, it soars: those closing ten minutes or so are extraordinarily powerful and you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone not profoundly affected by the powerful emotion on display. Woodley, in particular, sells the film for all its worth and, matched with the stunningly-framed and gorgeous cinematography from Richardson, Kormakur does a solid job with the film. It plays it safer than Tami did and its structural weaknesses and heavy-handedness are difficult and frustrating to contend with, flaws that prevent the film from rising to greatness. Still, it frequently rises to the occasion and while working stronger as a survival story than a romance, strikes a fine balance that will please audiences searching for both.
★★★★★★✬☆☆☆
(6.5/10)
Summary: When structural deficiencies and its script's heavy-handedness threaten to sink Adrift, gorgeous cinematography, strong direction and a brilliant lead performance from Shailene Woodley anchor this survival-romance film whose heart in the right place.