While Josh manages to overpower him, poor Frank lands on his back on a stalagmite.Īnd in case you get them confused – pointy rocks formed from calcium carbonate, not Frank and Josh – stalagmites stick up from the floor, and stalactites down from the ceiling. I suppose as their careers wax and wane the tables could turn and West might devolve into an Aldi Ioan Gruffudd, though as Liz and I are currently gripped by the continuing romantic revelations about West and Lily James, he has the edge.Ĭarl goes AWOL until near the end, when, sent mad by his girlfriend’s death and determined to wreak revenge, he comes across Frank and Josh. Roxburgh could be a wet-suited Bryan Brown (a formative crush of mine since The Thorn Birds. Judes (Allison Cratchley) is experienced but very tired St Jude was the patron saint of lost causes, which should tell you everything you need to know about Sanctum, and who dies first.Īlso on the team is 17 year old Josh (Rhys Wakefield), Frank’s climber son, and yes they have ishoos, all the better to fill in the talky bits between the swimathons between caverns as they search for a way out (when Frank isn’t quoting Samuel Taylor Coleridge).Įvery actor in Sanctum looks like someone more recognisable. There’s no external predator: just water above and below, the freezing cold, dead ends, and bad luck multiplied by their own stupidity.įorced to explore further into the rocks in order to find a new way out, Sanctum‘s increasingly depleted group wriggle through tiny spaces into spectacular cathedral-like caverns.įrank (Richard Roxburgh) is leading the expedition to map out the system, funded by Carl (Ioan Gruffudd), who has brought along his girlfriend Vic (Alice Parkinson). Sanctum only has the caves, rapidly filling with water after the divers accidentally start their exploration of the uncharted system just as a typhoon hits above ground. Unfortunately we never get to know anyone deeply enough to care if they do die, and despite it coming out in 2011 it suffered in our eyes as the film club watched it just a few weeks after 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019), which has a water-filled caving system AND an ancient Mayan temple AND blind killer sharks. It’s like watching the last night of Big Brother when they have to get down from ten to one in 90 minutes. To be fair nearly everyone dies in Sanctum though it’s a pretty big team to start with. Though it often looks beautiful, and it’s quite fun, as indeed it should be – it was produced by James Cameron who knows a thing or two about water, and having a key character die just before the end. Sanctum isn’t top notch claustrophobic caving (probably partly because we weren’t watching it in the original 3D). Warning: I’m going to spoiler not only Sanctum (2011) but also The Descent (UK version only!) so that’s two spoilers for the price of one.
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