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Sanctum (2011)
Director: Alister Grierson
Synopsis
Producer James Cameron's twin interests in 3D technology and underwater photography combine in this cave-diving thriller from Aussie director Alister Grierson.
Movie review
From Time Out London
A team of cave divers are swept away by a torrent of clichés in Alister Grierson’s dull subterranean adventure, the unique selling point of which is its use of the same beam-splitting 3D cameras as executive producer James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’. However, none of the unremarkable underwater sequences were actually shot that way – just those featuring cathedral-like caves, claustrophobic crevices and labyrinthine tunnels, all of which look like the studio sets they obviously are. Trapped underground by a tropical storm and the resulting flood water, grizzled cave-diving veteran Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh), his resentful 17-year-old son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) and reckless financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffud) eke out the dwindling food and failing light, while a string of supporting characters meet predictable, watery ends. Josh’s maudlin voiceover marks this out as a sentimental rites-of-passage tale, and even in this dim light, one can see every plot development coming a mile off.Author: Nigel Floyd
Time Out London Issue 2111: 3 – 9 February, 2011
Cast & crew
Director: Alister Grierson
With: Rhys Wakefield, Allison Cratchley, Christopher Baker
Genre(s): Action/Adventure, Thrillers, Drama
Duration: 109 mins
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