Dead Calm (film)

Dead Calm is a 1989 Australian psychological thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane. The screenplay by Terry Hayes was based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Williams. Filmed around the Great Barrier Reef, the plot focuses on a married couple, who, after tragically losing their son, are spending some time isolated at sea, when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.

Notably, the movie is the first successful film adaptation of the novel, after Orson Welles worked for a number of years to complete his own film based on it titled The Deep, though it ultimately went unreleased and uncompleted. Dead Calm was generally well received, with critics praising Neill, Kidman, and Zane's performances and the oceanic cinematography, although some film critics criticised elements of the script for being what they viewed as sensationalisation and an over-the-top ending; a critique directed at Warner Brothers who had requested that it be re-shot to provide a less ambiguous resolution for one of the characters. Modern retrospective analysis assesses the film more favourably, with The New York Times naming it one of the 1000 best films ever made.