On the whole I preferred this more that the prequel Open Water (I know Adrift was the unofficial sequel, but you know what I mean). I hated Open Water. The two protagonists were unpleasant and, for me, the film lacked the suspense and terror people would have you believe.

Adrift, however, had more potential, with more characters, albeit not much more likable, and even a baby. The first hour or so was almost edge of your seat stuff, with the true horror of their desperate situation being depicted perfectly. However, once I'd got used to the fact that they were in the water and there was little hope of them getting back aboard, I lost interest and it all became a bit tedious. Putting horribly shallow individuals in deep water (nice) with little chance of salvation results in a complete lack of viewer sympathy, which ultimately impacts the movie experience. Furthermore, a needlessly ambiguous and nonsensical ending added frustration into the mix.

I'm usually pretty critical (as my reviews would suggest), but I really can't grasp the 1 star reviews. It's like once people go below 6 or so there can be only one rating. Would be interesting if IMDB showed how often scores are selected. My guess is 2, 3 and 4 are the least used.

Anyhow, group gets together on a boat, get in the water with no way out (stupid yes, but people do stupid things all the time), and bad things happen as they struggle to survive. It's fairly entertaining even if you are left thinking, they should have thought of that in about 10 minutes. Ending is completely unrealistic, but does make it much more compelling. No woman is going to pick some random jerk off over her baby.

From the beginning, I knew the story would be a bit stupid. I decided to not judge right away. After all, they could have just immediately jumped off the boat without thinking about how to get back on. The thing was, they took their sweet time before going into the ocean. The aquaphobe girl and the yacht's owner were standing there, talking, for about ten minutes. Then he stupidly jumped into the water, taking her with him. What an a**.

Most people would think about how to get back on the boat before jumping off the (at least) twelve foot high deck. Not to mention that the ladder came down with a push of a button. How hard is it to remember the push a button? They should have done that as soon as they stopped in the water.

The mother leaving her baby onboard without anyone around was another mistake. At least one of them should have stayed to watch over her.

The movie put them in a situation that could have easily been worked through. They had six people. There are so many ways they could have worked their way back up onto the boat. Instead, we get two attempts to get back on. The rest of the time is being spent whining and crying about not being able to get back on, while possibly waiting for a ladder to magically appear. There is no sympathy to be felt for them. One of the characters tries to put a knife in the side of the boat so they can climb back up. The "owner" of the boat, flips out and refuses to let him do it, because it belongs to his boss, and ends up stabbing and killing his friend.

Everyone gave up way too quickly. One of the girls drowned herself. Another started swimming for shore, even though they were smack in the middle of the ocean. The rest didn't try anything, but float on their backs and stare at the sky.

At one point a cell phone rings and the coat it's in is hanging over the side of the boat, somehow in reach. When the call ends and the signal dies, the guy holding it throws it into the ocean. That was probably where I stopped feeling any despair for the characters.

In the end, this movie is stupid. You will be face-palming throughout the whole thing and wanting to choke the characters.