Adrift (2018)

Disaster/survival film based on the true story Red Sky in Mourning by Tami Oldham Ashcraft – an account of events relating to Hurricane Raymond in the Pacific Ocean in 1983. 

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur, it’s a compelling drama that interweaves the disaster of a damaged boat, drifting at sea, with the events that led up to this happening.

Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin star as a young couple whose romantic adventure quickly turns into a nightmare. Woodley is superb; Claflin less so.

My Cousin Rachel (2017)

Superb historical drama adapted from the novel by Daphne du Maurier. 

A young man in Cornwall (Sam Claflin) meets his older cousin’s widow (Rachel Weisz). Initially, he suspects her of causing his cousin’s death. But he is quickly bewitched by her and – driven mad by lust – donates his estate to her. But is she to be trusted? 

It’s tightly plotted and excellently acted. Weisz judges her role perfectly, seeming to be simultaneously sinister and completely proper in everything she says and does.

Their Finest (2016)

Comedy drama.

A writer named Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton) is hired by the Ministry of Information in 1940 to help create propaganda films during World War II. She faces sexism and other setbacks, has to deal with the ego of star actor Ambrose Hilliard (Bill Nighy), and develops an up-and-down creative relationship with her co-writer Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin). 

It’s subtle and witty, with the film-within-a-film aspect working extremely well. Initially it has the feel of a “Sunday night TV drama”, but it acquires depth as it develops. Arterton is excellent, conveying an emotional range that you might not expect after seeing her brief appearance as MI6 agent Strawberry Fields in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace.