by Joel Harley
Married couple Sofia (Carolina Gaitan) and Josh (Allan Hawco) are in a rough patch, both metaphorically and literally. Already on the brink of divorce, the bickering husband and wife find themselves in mortal danger when hiking through remote Columbian woodland. They stumble into a patch of quicksand. Alone and miles away from civilisation, a desperate battle for survival is afoot as the pair attempt to stay afloat.
Directed by Andres Beltran, Quicksand is the latest in a busy subgenre of people getting stuck in stupid places (see also Frozen, 127 Hours. Fall). In its structure and story, Quicksand resembles Open Water 2: Adrift – a survival horror film about people having arguments while stranded and floating in the middle of nowhere.
The insufferable Sofia and Josh wear out their welcome rather quickly, but Beltran and screenwriter Matt Pitts throw plenty at the couple to keep them – and the audience – occupied, including ants, alcoholism and a giant snake. At a brief 86 minutes, it doesn’t wear out its welcome either – a relief, given that much of it is centred on two not-very-interesting floating heads looking increasingly miserable in a puddle of mud.
While most of us would simply not go wandering around a forest that looks like something out of 2013’s Evil Dead remake, Quicksand engages in a base ‘What Would You Do?’ kind of way. Shallow but grimly entertaining, nevertheless.
Quicksand is streaming on Shudder in the UK and Ireland from July 14th.
