Quicksand will make its exclusive streaming debut Friday, July 14 on Shudder and will also be available to stream on AMC+.
Synopsis
An American couple, on the brink of divorce, travel to Colombia for a work conference. While on a hike through the rainforest, a storm causes them to become trapped in a pit of quicksand. Unable to move, it becomes a struggle for survival as they battle the elements of the jungle and a venomous snake, in order to escape.
Review
When you think of your typical horror movie what do you picture? Is it Laurie Strode running fighting to the death with Michael? Ripley torching the Alien? Maybe it’s Ghostface from the Scream franchise. Whatever it is that you’re picturing, I guarantee it isn’t being tripped in a pit of quicksand with your soon-to-be-divorced spouse.
Written by Matt Pitts and directed by Andrés Beltrán, Quicksand is a very different type of horror. One which sits almost squarely under the single location sub-genre. American hiker Josh (Allan Hawco) and his unhappy wife Sofia (Carolina Gaitan) are in her home country of Columbia for a healthcare conference. After dinner with an old friend sparks fly and their fractured relationship threatens to derail the whole trip. Back home there are kids to think about but both forget their differences momentary as they decide to take a trip in to the woods.
Returning to their car the pair is confronted by a mugger and run for the hills. Unfortunately for them, but not for us, Sofia quickly finds herself trapped in the titular pit. Josh, without even thinking twice, dives in to save her and finds himself trapped. Cue spending most of the remainder of the 86 minute runtime hyper focussed on escaping from could be certain death.
It was only through research for this review that I learned that victims rarely fall under the surface with quicksand. It’s more likely anyone who finds themselves trapped will starve or freeze to death before rescue arrives. Thus the second Josh and Sofia become trapped, a countdown clock begins.
Both Hawco and Gaitan are fully committed to their entrapment. Before heading out on their potentially deadly hike the melodrama between the two perfectly sets up the emotional rollercoaster which comes next. The horror of the entrapment is almost second place to the psychological terror which comes from their uncertainty. Pitts’ script runs the emotional gamut from hope right through to resignation and both actors really nail the authenticity in their performances.
Quicksand won’t be for everyone. Simply watching two mostly stationary people in a pit will put some off. But for those willing to engage with the absurdity but also the irony of the situation there is a lot to enjoy. I’m sure all of us who have been in a relationship can imagine being trapped with an ex. Forced to work through our issues simply to distract from dying. It’s a fascinating – and cruel! – psychological experiment.
The film excels when it confronts the wedge between the former lovers. Confronting Josh’s past (and potentially present) alcoholism and Sofia’s reluctance towards motherhood are challenging to watch. There a resemblance to the stages of grief as the story progresses with each new state of mind offing its own set of problems for the pair. Throwing in environmental factors like a nearby venomous snake and some rather fiery ants is where Quicksand wobbles a little. Whilst these aspects to help to amp up the film’s integrity as a horror picture, it does little to enhance the story.
Verdict
A tense and tightly scripted exploration of extreme marriage counselling, Quicksand is a nail-biting 86 minutes of human terror.
⭐⭐⭐
