3) Captain Phillips
Thinking of applying for a job aboard a container ship, or taking a sailing trip along the coast of Africa? Captain Phillips will put you straight – in Paul Greengrass’ tense true story adap, titular ship’s captain Tom Hanks is just doing his job hauling valuables around the Horn of Africa when a group of desperate, heavily armed Somali pirates decide they want some of what Phillips is having, and board the ship in search of booty.
From there it’s a battle of wits, words, and occasionally bullets, between wily everyman Phillips and Barkhad Abdi’s ruthless Muse. The genius of Greengrass and screenwriter Billy Ray’s approach is that you understand totally where the poverty-stricken Somali mercenaries are coming from, putting you in their shoes even as the gung-ho American authorities come to save the day.
That said, after this and All Is Lost, you’ll never want to go anywhere near the Indian Ocean.