Written and directed by Luisa Guerreiro, Cast Away hauls viewers into an unfamiliar landscape and leaves us alongside Mike Archer as the sole, nameless protagonist. Archer’s character haunts the shoreline, bound, it seems, to the peripheral.
The landscape is harsh and unforgiving. Nothing but rocks and cliffs. Nothing to provide respite or comfort. The man wakes up each day and stares out towards the nothingness. But each day it gets harder; he grows desperate for some kind of salvation. A flashing light that appears periodically on the horizon seems to represent a sign of life – the possibility of help. The man calls to the light, but it never comes any closer. His frustration mounts.
Then, suddenly, the aura of defamiliarization is shattered as the man appears sleeping in a bed, in a bedroom. He is not confined to some unknowable shore, at least not in the physical sense. Instead the water becomes metaphorical. The man is a prisoner of his own mind. The difficulties have grown and multiplied until they feel like a vast ocean separating him from everyone else. The flashing light of salvation feels too far out. The hands extended by friends remain just out of reach. But some of us are lucky to have friends who reach a little further. The people who are there in our darkest hours.
Mike Archer works with the simplicity of the story to deliver a powerful message. He neither dominates not submits to the narrative, instead riding it like a wave. He complements the writing and direction of Luisa Guerreiro. The song at the credits, “Skin” by Finn Anderson, provides an excellent note to finish on.
An innovative and important story.