The Boat (2018) Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A man becomes trapped on a boat, but is someone else onboard?

Review: "The Boat" isn't working with a lot yet it's able to accomplish a considerable amount nonetheless. Employing one, sole actor, the director's son, "The Boat" is a feature-length adaptation of a short by the same father and son duo. The main draw with this little film is the curiosity. At a glance, this appears to be more of a drama, however, layers of mystery unfold as things progress leading you to wonder what even happened in the first place. For the most part, the movie engages the audience in the mystery, but, by the end, I think audiences will be disappointed with the outcome.

For the positives I have to give credit to our lone actor, Joe Azzopardi. Ultimately, he carried the entire film on his shoulders which was no easy task. As stated, the intrigue surrounding the story is what will keep a viewer invested. The main guy becomes trapped on this boat stranded in the ocean, but there is clearly more going on. There are clues to something occurring onboard, and there is always this lingering presence that someone is on the ship, lurking in the peripheral. At the same time, the film includes enough natural explanations to keep you guessing for sure. By the end, you may start to realize the bizarre reality even when the main guy seemingly finds a hidden cubby-hole. It turns out this is some kind of ghost ship or an actual sentient vessel. Maybe it's an alien. Obviously I enjoy the mystery leading up to this point, and especially the stringing along of the audience. With that said, this revelation is lame and comes out of the blue. Why would a ghost or a living ship bother messing with this particular guy? Had the ship simply sailed off into the sunset, we could have been left wondering, but maybe that would have been even more disappointing? Beyond the ending, there simply isn't much else worthwhile going on--unraveling the mystery is the single reason to watch the movie. To me, this is a huge failure in writing since we could have had some twist involving the main guy that served to explore his character indirectly. Oh well.

All things considered, "The Boat" isn't the best story, but it's a good effort from an indie. Much of the camerawork is exceptional given filming on water is notoriously difficult. On some level, I think I appreciate this film more for its technical efforts than its overall presentation. On the other hand, this film can still provide casual entertainment through a respectable mystery and interesting concepts. There is certainly worse out there, but there isn't much to write home about here. Viewers simply need to keep their expectations tempered if they're going to watch.

Notable Moment: When the ship disappears. Effective use of editing, but you could just feel this moment coming which hurt to a degree.

Final Rating: 5.5/10