8) All Is Lost
A vanity trip around the world turns into a holiday from hell for retired mariner Robert Redford, only in this survival movie, hell looks like a punctured sailing boat drifting aimlessly across a tranquil Indian Ocean.
A blistering storm set-piece aside, for most of J.C. Chandor’s masterful ode to the human spirit, Redford’s Our Man isn’t up against the punishing elements – it’s his own limited knowledge and lack of preparation that leaves him lost, floating in foreign waters, and facing likely death.
Like the best survival films, All Is Lost makes the rising desperation felt, as man is dwarfed by his unforgiving environment. Chandor makes the film feel like something approaching a religious experience – albeit one that you’d never want to personally endure in a million years. By the time Our Man is reduced to drinking sea water, you’re canceling any plans you had for going on a sailing trip come retirement.