Director: Roman Doronin
Writer: Roman Doronin, Marcus Jerrome (Screenplay)
Starring: William Baldwin, Jeannine Kaspar, Zach Rose, Diljohn Singh, Loris Curci, Marianna Rosset
Plot: Two sisters living separate lives on different continents are reunited on a Mediterranean Island. The two barely have time to bond and revive family ties as Kate, the elder, meets a group of locals and agrees to an exciting ride on a hot air balloon. But disaster strikes and as the result of a freak accident, the balloon is carried far out to sea. Their cell phones out of range, and the balloon running out of gas, Kate and her friends are battling for their lives. While, back on land, the younger sister, Liz, has become an unwanted “material witness” to a crime. Matters then take a dramatic twist, one that will mark their lives forever.
Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: S.O.S. Survive or Sacrifice starts when Kate (Kaspar) and her younger sister Liz (Pinch) are traveling for the first time together in their lives, they have comes from different worlds, with this being a chance to try and get to know each other. With Liz asleep, Kate looks to go for a party where she meets local Myrianthy (Rosset) who encourages Kate to continue the party into the morning with a balloon ride.
Only for balloon trip takes a turn for the worse as the balloon floats of to the open ocean, while Liz wakes up alone with a strange man Jack (Baldwin) lurking around hotel room, Kate and Myrianthy must work together to survive, even if the original plan was to lure her away for Jack to commit the robbery.
Thoughts on S.O.S. Survive or Sacrifice
Characters – Kate is taking her estranged sister on holiday, she hasn’t been raised around her, with this being the big moment in their lives, she must take the parental figure out of the relationship, but still has a wild child side, which sees her going out partying, agreeing to go on a balloon ride, when things get out of hand, she proves to be the most resourceful of the people on the balloon in her desperate attempts to return to her sister. Liz is the younger sister that doesn’t want to be on this trip and wakes up to find herself alone with a stranger trying to break into their room, she goes on a mission with a social worker to locate her sister and prove she is a neglected child. Myrianthy is the woman Kate meets on a night out, who offers Kate a chance for a party time, only she is bait to lure people away from their rooms for the robbery for Jack to commit, Jack is the criminal who knows the plan is bust after getting caught, he is always doing something, but doesn’t feel like he needs to be part of the main survival story.
Performances – When it comes to the performances, Jeannine Kaspar and Marianna Rosset are both giving a more physically demanding roles in the film, William Baldwin does have a strange role, which doesn’t always feel connected to the main story.
Story – The story here follows two estranged sisters that are spending a holiday together, only to become separated when the older Kate gets involved with some locals and becomes standard on a balloon over the open ocean. This is a survival story which will see how people will need to figure out how to survive being trapped in a balloon that is going out to open water, without having anyone who knows how to pilot it. It does fit into the idea of a survival story and will get the praise it deserves for how everything is portrayed through the film. There is a side story about the robberies happening, which never feel as interesting as they want to.
Adventure – The adventure side of this film shows us what will happen if a good time adventure goes terribly wrong.
Settings – The film uses the balloon stranded as the intense side of the story, while Liz trying to locate Kate does offer a few interesting locations, including the open water.
Scene of the Movie – The wind farm.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Worst Social Worker Ever.
Final Thoughts – This is a film that does have an intense idea for survival, showing just how impossible the position might well be, with a series of excellently worked stunts.
The Vision Films action-thriller will release On-Demand and On-Digital on October 27th, 2020.
