If Shailene Woodley’s ‘Adrift’ Looks Familiar, That’s Because You’ve Seen It All Before

The new Shailene Woodley lost-at-sea movie Adrift is probably well worth watching. It’s riding the edge of a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Woodley herself has been known to bring it in movies like The Fault in Our Stars and TV like Big Little Lies. Her co-star, Sam Claflin, got his start playing handsome tribute Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games and has really been proving himself as more than just a pretty face in films like Their Finest and My Cousin Rachel. And director Baltasar Kormakur knows his way around a true story of human perseverance against the elements (he directed Everest in 2015). Here, he’s directing the true story of a young couple — Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp — who were sailors who got caught in a hurricane in the Pacific and needed to navigate themselves to Hawaii on their busted boat.

It looks like a powerful and emotional story, with Woodley’s character, Tami, needing to muster up all her big hero wherewithal to save them, with Richard’s body broken. It also, as a piece of filmmaking, looks like pretty much every other lost-at-sea movie that’s been released in the last decade. And there have been a few! From the horrific (Open Water, where a couple find themselves adrift in shark-infested waters after their tour group leaves them) to the inspirational (Robert Redford as an old man versus the sea in All Is Lost) to the magical-realist (Life of Pi) to a movie like Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, where the lost-at-sea part is only a portion of the horrors facing the main character.

All of these lost-at-sea movies tend to follow the same beats, often with the same shots. Obviously, with so many of these based on true stories, and with the sea not offering much variety in the way of terrain, there’s a limited set of variables for directors to work with. Still, you can’t help but imagine that, with a movie like Adrift, you’ll have seen it all before.

The Bliss

The character or characters are usually incredibly happy or at least peaceful when they embark on their voyage. Wouldn’t you be? You own a boat! (Unbroken is obviously the exception to this, since the events that precede being lost at sea are being shot down by Japanese pilots in World War II.)

The Wave

Things go very wrong, usually with a storm.

The Flooded Quarters

Water, water, everywhere, and so many loose sheets of paper for some reason. And, if you’re Life of Pi, zoo animals. So many zoo animals.

The Injury

This one also applies to aquatic disasters like Blake Lively’s shark-evading surfer movie The Shallows. One major injury usually keeps the main characters from being more effective in the matter of their own rescue.

The Underwater Shot

The one true classic of the genre. Every lost-at-sea movie has two required shots:

1. The overhead shot where we see the vastness of the ocean and how small this little wrecked boat looks in the middle of nowhere
2. The underwater shot that suggests unfathomable depths below our main characters, full of the potential for sharks or other beasts to arrive at any moment

The Self-Sufficiency/Ingenuity/Adaptability

This is the part where the heroes learn to patch holes in their vessel (duct tape, truly the universal adhesive) or find drinkable water or create makeshift fishing hooks to snag food. These movies tend to become mini MacGyver episodes during these stretches, but they’re how you know that these protagonists aren’t just lumps waiting to be rescued by passing ships.

The Chapped Faces

Being lost at sea is truly hell on one’s skin care. You might enjoy that salty air during an afternoon at the beach, but it’s hell on the ol’ lips when you’re not getting enough/any water. And that beaming hot sun will basically roast your face off. These movies always get a lot of mileage out of a time-jump cut where it’s suddenly two days later and the gorgeous mug of a movie star is suddenly a blistered, mottled horror show. Don’t get lost at sea, folks.

The Rescue

Being that these are often based on true stories, the details of the rescue (or … not) are where these movies most differentiate themselves. Adrift is supposed to have a twist ending that could set it even farther apart. But basically: you survive, or you don’t. If you’re Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin, you’re really pretty, so the whole audience will be rooting for you. Best of luck reaching Hawaii, kids.

Where to stream All Is Lost

Where to stream Life of Pi

Where to stream Unbroken

Where to stream Open Water