“The Drift” follows an ice skating star who finds herself in a fight for survival after becoming stranded on an ice float drifting in the Arctic.
Survival Story Without a Story
The opening of “The Drift” is bold. Just maybe not in the best way. Rather than attempting to draw in the audience, the film simply begins. There’s no proper introduction, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
This does create a big problem for the film, however. Its “what if?” style is intriguing. But there has to be more than that to the overall story. Rather than forming a narrative, “The Drift” moves through a variety of scenarios – blizzard conditions, crashing waves, cracking ice and frigid temperatures.
Despite giving brief fragments of the ice skater’s past, there’s not enough information for the audience to hold on to. Or care about, for that matter.
This turns the movie into a compilation of sorts, moving from scene to scene with no end goal in sight. Because of this, “The Drift” grows repetitive, and its 83-minute runtime ends up feeling more like two hours. In this way, director Taavi Vartia’s film feels very similar to 2023’s “Box: Metaphor.”
The movie flows like this even more because of its lack of dialogue.
Despite brief conversations or lines spoken to herself, Thea Sofie Loch Næss’ character remains mostly silent. She faces obstacles and challenges with heavy breathing and screams for help, but the words remain minimal. Instead, Næss gives the film its “fighting” mentality through her mannerisms and physicality.
Style Over Substance
“The Drift” does make excuses for dialogue, however. And these end up being the dullest moments. What should become a beacon of rescue and resolution turns into long stretches of meaningless conversation. Not only is much of the dialogue unrealistic, but it’s also unnecessary.
Almost the entire middle act of the movie becomes nonsensical because of this. The final direction is even more absent, leaving “The Drift” with little gas remaining.
What the film does have is beautiful visuals. Cinematographer Nikos Karanikolas captures the Arctic location well. In both stunning and frightening ways, the environment becomes a character of its own.
In a movie like “The Drift,” these visuals need to feel immersive. The film crafts a realistic setting that remains appealing even when the story itself is lacking.
Lost in the Cold
The sound design also conveys the harshness through rain, snow, waves, wind and more. Amid long stretches of silence, these elements add layers of atmosphere. While the natural sounds of “The Drift” succeed, the score proves distracting.
Despite sometimes hitting the audience with spurts of sharp tones, the composition mostly remains sentimental or “inspiring.” This creates a challenge when the movie moves into its supposedly intense set pieces. These elements clash, causing the overall delivery of scenes to feel inconsistent and unnatural.
“The Drift” is a survival thriller that can’t survive on its own. The concept is intriguing, but the setup is boring and the payoff nonexistent. The film ultimately turns into an experiment that doesn’t make sense at all.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
