Master diver Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh of Moulin Rouge!, Mission: Impossible II) has explored the South Pacific’s Esa’ala caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank’s key team—including 17-year-old son Josh (Rhys Wakefield of The Black Balloon, Broken Hill) and financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd of Fantastic Four series, W.)—is forced to radically alter plans.
With dwindling supplies, the crew—including Carl’s girlfriend, Victoria (Alice Parkinson of Where the Wild Things Are, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and Crazy George (Dan Wyllie of Muriel’s Wedding, Chopper)—must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out. Soon, they are confronted with the unavoidable question: Can they survive, or will they be trapped forever?
Starring: Richard Roxburgh, Alice Parkinson
Directed by: Alister Grierson
Runtime: 109 minutes
Studio: Rogue Pictures
Amazon USAmazon UKIMDBReview: Sanctum
Tales of survival are often engaging whether it’s in the desert or a struggle to overcome the cold in the Arctic. The human spirit is a powerful thing and has seen many people through some truly horrifying ordeals in the past. Sanctum embraces survival, putting a group of explorers in a subterranean network of caves, living the dream of adventure, only for it all to fall apart and leave them desperately fighting for their lives.
The film begins with Josh McGuire (Rhys Wakefield), Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd) and his girlfriend Victoria (Alice Parkinson) who head for Papua New Guinea to the Esa’ala Cave, a vast subterranean cave network. Josh’s father, Frank (Richard Roxburgh) is in charge of an expedition that has already delved deep into the earth and to continue further requires heading underwater. While stationed beneath the ground, communications with the surface are cut off and a crucial warning of approaching storms does not reach the exploration team. As the storm erupts the explorers are trapped in the caves which quickly become flooded. With the way back to the surface no good they are forced to navigate through unexplored tunnels in the hope of finding a path to the sea.
The first thing Sanctum has in its favour is of course the terrain we get to see. There’s nothing quite like Mother Nature’s handiwork and though this is a disaster film there is still some impressive scenery on show. Over to the characters things are less aesthetically pleasing. Josh and his father, Frank, have a very fractious relationship which only gets worse when Frank explores an underwater cave known as Devil’s Restriction and fellow diver Judes (Allison Cratchley) drowns following an accident. Josh blames his father and Judes’ death causes a lot of tension in the group. However, they don’t have long to argue before the storms arrive and the caves begin to flood. Forced to head further into the caves, the group find themselves in a struggle for survival.
Sanctum looks great in places and will almost make you tempted to want to try a spot of this exploration yourself, at least when things are going right for the group. Sadly the survival story isn’t the most tense or nail biting and it’s quite predictable who will be around at the end and how they will have changed for the experience. I wouldn’t call this a dreadful film but I wouldn’t describe it as good either. It has some decent moments but these are lost down the flooded tunnels when faced with the bad points.
Sanctum has a good premise but the execution is sadly flawed. I just wasn’t gripped by the survival storyline and having to endure father and son bonding towards the end had me rolling my eyes. There’s always a place for survival films and I welcome future ones with enthusiasm but sadly I’ll have to say that Sanctum isn’t one of the best ones.
Verdict: 2/5
(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)
Film Review: Sanctum | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave