Sanctum (film)

2011 film written by Andrew Wight (who has sadly passed away recently) and produced by James Cameron, among others.

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Provides Examples Of:

• 3D Movie
• Ax Crazy: Carl, resulting in Frank's death
• Black Dude Dies First: Well, sort of. Luko is a New Guinea native, dark-skinned but not African.
• Blood From the Mouth: George, suffering from the Bends.
• Chekhov's Gun: Josh's fang necklace with a built in flashlight.
• Dwindling Party
• Dies Wide Open: Judes drowns like this.
• Fake American: Wales-born Ioan Gruffudd.
• Fridge Brilliance: If Josh would have left at the beginning he still would have been the only one to survive, though it probably would have rescued the other man he was with at the time. Everyone probably still would have died, but Josh would have just known that his dad died in the cave, not having to live with the fact that he drowned him in the cave and lived through all the troubles.
  • Carl might have been able to escape had Josh left at the beginning, as he would have had the oxygen tank that Josh used in his final escape. Though it's also possible that without Josh's climbing skills, no one would have made it through the very difficult passage over the "meat grinder" pool where Victoria died.
• In Medias Res: The first shot you see is Josh floating aimlessley, seemingly dead. He makes it out though.
• Idiot Ball: Victoria holds this most of the time, which kills her when she cuts her own rope to free her entangled hair. Justified in that she has no experience in cave diving, which other characters point out constantly.
  • She refuses to wear a wetsuit and gets hypothermia as a result. Might cross into somewhat understandable Squick / Heroic BSOD territory once it's taken into account that she was ordered to wear the wetsuit off a recently-dead body. Still, it does not quite befit a trained and experienced mountain climber to behave this way (Victoria's said to at least have climbed Everest). Minding one's long hair (or not keeping it that way) is a habit expected from a mountaineer as well.
    • The hair issue is perhaps excusable, as by that point Victoria was suffering from hypothermia and not thinking clearly.
  • Considering that they have limited amounts of battery life, they ALL use their headlamps and later engine oil torches ALL the time. Alternating lamps would have allowed them to have light for a lot longer.
• I Will Only Slow You Down: George, suffering from Decompression Sickness, coughing up blood, and unable to continue, crawls off into a side-tunnel and hides, waiting for death
• Large Ham: Ioan Gruffudd, so very much.
• Men Are the Expendable Gender: Averted. And how. Judes is the first character to die, but her death merely sets the stage for Victoria's shocking demise.
• Mercy Kill: Frank does this to Luko after he falls down a shaft and breaks all the bones in his body. Later, Josh must do it to his dad after he's been stabbed by sharp rocks.
• Survival Mantra: Frank recites "Kubla Khan" (also less commonly known as "Xanadu") by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Josh later asks his father to teach him the poem in their mutual Heartwarming Moment.
• The Hero: Josh, right? Not so fast. The only life he actually saved was his own. And by neglecting to bring extra oxygen to the cave he was at least partly responsible for Judes' death.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Nobody actually died in the true story, which was experienced by the screenwriter himself.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Josh is really detached from his cave-diving, spelunkering dad.