All Is Lost

Although many were impressed with J. C. Chandor’s Margin Call, it’s doubtful anybody thought he was capable of a film like All Is Lost. Where his debut was a dialogue-driven ensemble piece, All Is Lost is an almost entirely wordless drama that features a single actor. Robert Redford is the veteran yachtsman trying to keep his damaged craft afloat amid stormy conditions in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and he gives a commanding performance as the nameless protagonist that makes the complete lack of characterisation an irrelevance.

Chandor's filmmaking is efficient and admirably single-minded – there’s no ‘Wilson’ for Redford to make conversation with here – and the plot is simply a progression of challenging situations that the resourceful sailor attempts to deal with as best he can. However, all of this might feel like little more than an audacious stunt if it wasn’t for the bold ending; it will surely divide opinion, but it establishes All Is Lost as a profoundly moving meditation on life and death. [Philip Concannon]