Synopsis:
Follows a married couple on the verge of divorce who become trapped in quicksand while hiking through a rainforest in Colombia. Battling the elements, they must work together to survive.
Editing: Alejo Alas
Music: Manuel José Gordillo
Cast: Allan Hawco, Carolina Gaitán, Sebastián Eslava, Andrés Castañeda
Director: Andres Beltran
Writer: Matt Pitts
Cinematography: Santiago Otoya
At one hour and twenty-six minutes, you may think that’s a very long time for people to be sinking in a film titled Quicksand, but this film goes for a realistic approach: you don’t get sucked into quicksand. Director Andres Beltran and writer Matt Pitts meet in the middle of realism for their Colombian rainforest survival tale—quicksand is survivable, and our characters have read enough to know it won’t swallow you like in the movies, but not enough to know how to escape.
There’s a sub-genre of survival thrillers that pin characters in one spot to force reckonings with their past decisions—think Buried. Quicksand bogs itself down by splitting that focus across two leads and leaning into melodrama.
On the brink of divorce, Josh (Allan Hawco) travels to Colombia with Sofia (Carolina Gaitán) to speak at a medical seminar. After a few brisk exchanges to set the stage, the pair take a short hike. Spotting someone trying to break into their car, Josh inexplicably decides to play hero, and the two end up running into the jungle—lost, and then stuck in quicksand together.
Both Hawco and Gaitán work hard to spark chemistry amid rain and mud, and the metaphor of their bodies stuck like their relationship is clear. But there’s rarely enough drama or thrills to bind the package together. When a snake enters the picture, tension spikes—but the momentum dissipates just as quickly as it arrives.
About that thief—the strangest thread in Quicksand. A prologue shows his friend caught in quicksand. Later he appears seemingly in league with a hotel concierge to target tourists. Ultimately, it’s all just a contrivance to push the couple into the jungle and the pit; I kept waiting for this criminal setup to pay off in a bigger way, but it never does.
Simple survival thrillers like this are rare, and there’s some watchable craft here, but Quicksand isn’t one I’ll revisit soon.
Quicksand streams on Shudder from 14/07/23.
(Quicksand screener provided for review)
