M, 113 minutes
4 Stars
Review by © Jane Freebury
Watching this new French survivalist drama about a vulnerable couple in a deserted location, you might be excused the feeling that a malevolent third party might arrive on scene. Filmed on a rocky island in locations as magnificent and stark as treeless landscapes can be, there is an atmosphere of eternal isolation, far from others. It may speak to those who love the immersion in nature’s wilderness and among filmgoers who have seen one too many thrillers set in the lonely great outdoors it may also trigger a nagging question as to who or what else is out there.
Known in its home market as Soudain Seuls, Suddenly is loosely drawn from a novel with the same name by Isabelle Autisssier. Early in the 1990s, she became the first female competitor in a round-the-world yacht race, sailing single-handed across five oceans.
Writer-director Thomas Bidegain has set Suddenly off the coast of South America and given it two key characters. A French yachting couple who are sailing on their own round-the-world adventure when misfortune strikes, and they become stranded on one of the islands that cluster along the far south coast of Chile. The actual shoot took place in Iceland.
Intimate, powerful survivalist drama, by turns thrilling
Of course, there are some tensions between the two, starting with their approach to life at sea. Ben (Gilles Lellouche), who runs a trucking company back home, enjoys the sport up on deck, while Laura (Melanie Thierry) is busy on her laptop below, with a thesis to submit and a position with an international organisation in Geneva to consider. Little details give them away, like Ben’s casual attempt at mooring their landing dinghy followed up by Laura securing its ropes at anchor. There are differences to resolve, but they have been together five years and are still very much into each other.
Drawn by the austere beauty of the island they hop into their inflatable runabout for a closer look at its rocky coves and the snow-dusted peaks in the hinterland, but a wild storm hits and their yacht disappears, leaving them utterly marooned. Ben and Laura take shelter in an abandoned, dilapidated whaling station, on what has since become a protected wilderness reserve visited by penguins. In the reigning silence broken only by the roar of the wind and the roiling seas and the cries of visiting birdlife, they have only nature for company.
It takes time to accept this predicament. In part the result of casual emergency arrangements made with Ben’s brother, who he believes will call a search party and they will be rescued inside 10 days. Days turn into weeks, as they learn how to provide for themselves from meagre resources. The idea of fresh coffee in the little port where they were headed, Puerto Eden, seems more and more distant, when the stakes are just about survival.
A burning question: Will you eat me, if I die?
At the end of the world, with Antarctica just over the horizon and winter approaching, it is time to get serious. A wander on nearby slopes revealing a few graves marked with wooden crosses, is a grim reminder of their mortality and the perilous environment in which they are taking shelter. They repair the whaling station as best they can and find a source of fresh water. Ben realises that their meagre harvest of shellfish won’t keep them alive and goes hunting for penguins along the beach. It introduces some scenes that are both distressing and unexpected. The circumstances in which they find themselves in prompt terrible questions: will you eat me if I die?
Unlike the Alone franchise on television, the dramatic focus is the couple at its core in their scramble to survive. Suddenly is a two-hander with a particularly strong performance from Thierry. Lellouche (Bac Nord, Kompromat) is well-suited to his role as a man of action.
It is the second feature directed by Bidegain, a prize-winning screenwriter who has been closely associated with French auteur Jacques Audiard, on major films like The Prophet, and Rust and Bone. He co-wrote the script for Suddenly with scenarist Valentine Monteil.
It was to be his first English-language feature, with Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead role but creative differences surfaced early, and the actor quit the project. This finely tuned survivalist adventure, by turns intimate and powerful and even thrilling, doesn’t need the heft of Hollywood.
Jane’s reviews also published in the Canberra Times and on Rotten Tomatoes
Featured image of Gilles Lelouche and Melanie Thierry in Suddenly, courtesy Unifrance and Limelight Distribution