Who needs a Hollywood budget to make a haunting drama of men adrift at sea?
One week after Robert Redford stormed into theatres with All Is Lost, this tale of six shipwrecked fishermen, two dories and an endless empty sea arrives from the East Coast as a sort of minimalist Canadian response, a chamber piece about creeping dread.
Aided by splendid sound design and ace cinematography, rookie writer-director Shandi Mitchell displays a veteran's control of character, tone and pacing, moving from the brief early moments in which the men, in high spirits, begin to row 200 miles for shore, to the elongated later scenes when the rations run out and so does their hope.
See it on the big screen to appreciate their plight. They may disappear, but they'll stay with you for days.