the survival-horror subgenre that includes movies like Open Water and 127 Hours there is a new entry: Quicksand, about an estranged couple who go hiking in a remote forest and soon get stuck there … literally. Although the movie may be heavy-handed, the ordeal its characters go through is undeniably painful.
Directed by Andrés Beltrán and written by Matt Pitts (WestworldFringe), Quicksand stars Carolina Gaitàn and Allan Hawco as Sophia and Josh, who travel together to her native Colombia for a health care conference—despite the fact that their marriage is over, and they could hardly stand to be in the same room. When Josh tells a mutual friend that he’s sure workaholic Sophia doesn’t want to do any adventuring while they’re in Bogotá, she takes that as a challenge, sets her jaw and insists that they walk nearby. rainforest.
With a runtime of just under 90 minutes, Quicksand know you want to get to the squishy thing ASAP, but it casts some major shadows along the way; its opening scene teases the isolated, hostile-for-many-reasons place we know Sophia and Josh will end up in, a place pointed out by the front desk clerk at their hotel in a map and warns that “Even locos don’t go there.” It seems that climate change has made the land more treacherous, and has also made the area a favorite habitat for big-ass snakes. .
A very different kind of danger—shadowy characters who rob tourists—also rears its head, turning the couple’s four-mile walk into a frantic chase into the center of the quicksand. . Once Sophia and Josh are both trapped in the dark pit, something scary even if it does not mean forced closeness to the former spouse, the dangers begin to rise; as expected, that includes a territorial venomous snake that gets a slithery POV shot by introduction, a stylistic choice that makes Quicksand kindness for a moment feel like a part of the creature.
That’s the only “fun” moment in the Quicksandhowever, relying heavily on metaphors about how self-doubt can contribute to failed relationships — life can really, ahem, suck you down, you know? Sophia and Josh are never going to be people you want to root for, let alone spend time wallowing in the mud. But the truth is, that was probably intended all along QuicksandThe main goal is to make your skin crawl—and because of that it succeeds, on many levels.
Quicksand hits Shudder July 14 and is also available on AMC+.
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