Adrift: Baltasar Kormákur’s film plays well its ace, but the story is neither novel, exciting or poetic enough, as presented; the journey is so dull (despite the cross-cutting between different timelines) that, even with its short length, the film drags. Shailene Woodley has intangible characteristics that make her a great choice to play a carefree spirit such as her character, but she remains too healthy-looking in the second half of the story; nevertheless, her acting is better than serviceable, both before and after disaster hits. Sam Claflin looks fine, and is not asked to do much. The film is (expectedly) very well shot by director of cinematography Robert Richardson; it uses many fine underwater shots, handheld shots when those make dramatic sense, and captures nicely a few incredible sunsets and dreamy locations. As a whole, this is very competently done: sound design is very solid, and the crucial storm is quite well recreated.