Based on a remarkable true story, Adrift is a fairly typical survival movie that is enhanced by terrific acting performances and realistic and beautiful cinematography. The film follows the 23-year-old Tami Oldham, played by Golden Globe nominee Shailene Woodley, who travels the world away from her hometown of San Diego and finds herself on the island of Tahiti where she meets the handsome 34-year-old British sailor Richard Sharp, played by Sam Claflin. Through a series of flashbacks, they fall in love and enjoy sailing around the South Pacific Islands on his small sailboat that he built himself. Eventually, a couple who are friends with Richard ask Richard and Tami to take their 44-foot sailboat over 4,000 miles back to San Diego. They set out for their journey in October 1983, but tragedy strikes when their boat is heavily damaged by an unexpected Category 4 hurricane in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Richard is severely injured so Tami must take on the duties to try and survive with the sailboat missing its sails and all navigation and radio equipment inoperable. As the days progress, Tami is in an increasingly dire situation as food begins to run low and the boat is many miles away from land. She decides that the best hope for survival is to head for Hawai’i and must navigate only using the primitive tools of the sextant and following the stars. At some point, the audience realizes the extent that her mental state and hallucinations impact her ability to think properly and ultimately survive the ordeal. Overall, I found it to be a somewhat compelling survival adventure movie that differentiates itself from the rather generic formula of the genre by having a dynamic and raw performance from the talented young actress Shailene Woodley.
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