Albert Pinto’s Spanish language all-at-sea survivalist thriller Nowhere has been making waves, and it’s not hard to see why. Brutal, relentless, absolutely unforgiving, Nowhere is an exhausting, edgy, nerve-shredding film that offers little in the way of optimism and might just leave you feeling hopelessly pessimistic about human nature even as you admire the extraordinary determination to survive, demonstrated by its protagonist Mia (Anna Castillo) in a film that’s pretty much a one-hander.

It’s intimated that society in the near future is at the point of collapse all over the world; societal disorder and food shortages are rife, and governments have become tyrannical as they try to maintain order. Pregnant Mia and her husband Nico (Tamar Novas) decide to flee Spain and head to Ireland – where the situation is far less dire – by cargo ship, and they and other refugees board massive containers that are being transported to the coast. But when the military intercepts them, the pair are separated, and Mia finds herself alone in the container as it’s loaded aboard a ship. A storm sends the containers tumbling into the ocean, and Mia has to use anything and everything she can find in the container – most of which isn’t much use to her – to stay alive as it slowly takes on water and the birth of her baby approaches.

Nowhere is bleak and nihilistic and, more often than not, offers nothing but despair and hopelessness. Mia’s determination to survive and protect her unborn child is really the only beacon in the darkness because anything and everything that can go wrong in her struggle eventually does. There are moments of appalling unpleasantness here, not least when Mia stares out through a bolthole in her container and sees another nearby container sinking beneath the waves, its occupants screaming in abject terror. Castillo’s performance is outstanding, and she endures the terrible ordeals the script throws at her with astonishing strength and resilience. In fact, the very act of watching Nowhere is something of an ordeal, and whilst it’s not a film anyone is likely to say they enjoyed, it’s impossible not to admire the artistry with which it’s been made and the sometimes well-hidden spirit of survival it grimly celebrates. A brilliant but deeply troubling experience.

NOWHERE is streaming now on Netflix