All is Lost, Cinemas across London

With a script that is practically dialogue-free and only 32 pages long, you'd be forgiven for thinking All is Lost sounded as hopeless as its title.

It is writer and director J.C. Chandor's second feature, following 2011's effective financial thriller Margin Call. This latest sea-venture couldn't be more different. Discarding the complications of real events, intense dialogue and an ensemble cast; it focuses exclusively on one central performance.

Robert Redford plays 'Our Man'  who, whilst sailing around the world, wakes to find his yacht cracked and flung adrift in the Indian Ocean. Chandor's innovative inexperience is perfectly matched to his wizened leading man, who spent much of filming in giant water tanks. The soggy preparation has paid off, with Redford's masterful performance tipped to win him his first Best Actor Oscar.

Chandor recalls how his casting decision was made whilst watching Redford speak at the Sundance Film Festival (an event which the actor founded). During a technical fault, Redford's distinctive, gravelly voice cut out, and the director appreciated his potential for a speechless performance.

'You realised that if you sort of took that tool away from him, it might strangely allow the audience to see him in a different light... it was going to put tremendous stress on him, on his other gifts'. 

We prefer Redford's explanation of the collaboration, that his involvement was strictly subject to meeting Chandor, 'basically to make sure he wasn't nuts'.

As awards season looms after the New Year,a slew of serious minded films jostle for release. Of these, Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity and Paul Greengrass' Captain Phillips similarly explore humanity in the face of physical and existential crisis.

In fact, the three offer very different cinematic experiences. Gravity showcases Cuarón's technical genius- he formulated new methods of shooting and lighting to recreate weightlessness, somehow managing to make his 'love song to space' a piece of realism. Captain Phillips on the other hand is a tense hostage-captive interaction, based on the 2009 kidnap of a merchant mariner by Somali pirates. 

In All is Lost Chandor has created a film as stripped back and exposed as Redford's character is to the stormy seas. For this reason, this intelligent, elemental blockbuster is the one we're most excited about.