The Boat (2018)

The Boat (2018) A British-Maltese film directed by Winston Azzopardi. Not to be confused with The Boat (2022), which is not a remake at all! Even less so with Das Boot (1981), which is about a submarine. A sailor is trapped in a ghost ship lost in the middle of the Mediterranean.

Going into this film, I really wanted to rediscover the pleasure of Triangle (2009) or Ghost Ship (2002). Alas… it’s nowhere to be found! But… I really liked Joe Azzopardi as an actor. Poor guy, he gave as good as he got and the film relies on him. But the direction isn’t great and that doesn’t help. It seems to me that the most memorable is Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000), where he is alone for over an hour on his island.

The funny thing is that the beginning and the end are less interesting, even though there are other people there. In fact, there’s something extremely dull and boring about this film. But there’s also something extremely interesting. It’s quite a special mix, and quite disturbing! For a good third of the film, the character is locked up in the toilet, and it’s a very long time, even if you get a good sense of the horror of the situation. Incidentally, this is another film not to be recommended to the claustrophobic. Nor for those afraid of boats or the ocean. The music and the story are as scary as you could wish for. Some people will indeed be bored throughout the film, without seeing the point, and that’s a shame.

Admittedly, there were plenty of moments where I lost interest, because it’s really hard for me to follow a character who has no dialogue, only occasional monologues. That said, I told myself that if the ending was incredible, it would still be a good film. If the ending had been completely rubbish, I’d still have had a great deal of respect for the actor.So… Yes, I liked the ending, even if it was a bit fishy. But it could have been a lot worse. I even rewatched the beginning after the film was over. It’s scary, but there’s still hope, because it’s not loneliness that prevails. That’s all I can say without spoiling too much.