Drift review – attempts to shock without the aspect of surprise

This new film by Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen, his first in the English language, probes the question of the unseen and, often, unimaginable traumas suffered by refugees who are trying to eke out an existence in sunny new climes. Cynthia Erivo’s Jacqueline was once part of the Liberian upper classes and managed to study in London, but has found herself destitute in a quiet Greek resort town and a pale shadow of the former self we see in flashbacks. She is someone who seems like she is permanently on the verge of tears, and despite attempts to lay low and deal with her issues in solitude, she befriends affable tour guide Callie (Alia Shawkat) whose innocent questions serve to unlock the hidden chasms of Jacquline’s soul.

Despite its laid back tone and a committed performance from Erivo, the film lacks for surprise and innovation, slowly edging towards a revelatory climax that only the most narrow-sighted of viewers would not have seen coming from a million miles off. The film trades on clichés of othering and racism that, while certainly relevant, don’t really offer much that’s new to the wider and far more complex conversation about the plight of those forcibly displaced from their home countries.

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