Not quite in the mood for the all-out action of "The Night Agent" season 2 or some of Netflix's other recent arrivals? The streaming service has just added an understated survival movie that might be more to your taste.
The movie in question is "The Sand Castle", a Netflix Original debut feature from director, Matty Brown. Released today (Jan. 24), it's an allegorical tale about an Arabic family of four trapped on a beautiful island, one which sees the line between reality and fiction blur as the story unfolds.
Thinking of streaming "The Sand Castle" on Netflix? Here's a little bit more info about the streamer's survival drama to help you decide whether it deserves a place on your watchlist.
What is 'The Sand Castle' about?
"The Sand Castle" is a story of survival revolving around a family of four. The group is stranded on a desert island, right in the middle of the ocean, doing what they can to survive whilst holding onto hope that they'll one day be able to escape their isolated new home.
It eventually becomes clear that all is not what it seems on this island, and as the family faces a succession of challenges, they begin to question whether they will ever be able to return home.
"The Sand Castle" stars Palestinian actor Ziad Bakri as the family patriarch, Nabil, Lebanese actor, and director Nadine Labaki as his wife, Yasmine, plus "Capernaum" siblings and Syrian-born actors Zain and Riman Al Rafeea as their two children, Adam and Jana.
Should you stream 'The Sand Castle' on Netflix?
I'd say so, yes. "The Sand Castle" is a project with a clear aim — laid bare in a final sequence and end card that hammers home its urgent, humanitarian message. Admirable though this vision is, I believe the journey to its eventual destination will be a test for some viewers, being more of a mood piece.
While I don't want to spoil the core message of "The Sand Castle", I feel it pays to know going in you'll be experiencing this story mostly from the perspective of our youngest survivor, Jana. This is a deliberate move, one which is used to tee up a rug-pull ending that unveils a reality only hinted at semi-regularly.
Evocative visions of the family's undisturbed home and the daily frustrations of eking out a living — fishing, constant repair jobs, flagging down potential rescuers, and the family trying to stay entertained — clash with shocks of stark images or elusive discoveries that skewer this dreamy vision and sketch a bleaker reality underneath this seemingly idyllic setting.
Problems continue to mount up for our family members, but the focus is as much on keeping secrets from Jana as it is on fixing or confronting them, even as survival becomes an increasingly difficult task.
It's a poignant watch, one that boasts engaging performances and a resonant (and incredibly timely) core message but results in a watch that's perhaps a little too unfocused for some of the people who might be planning to stream "The Sand Castle" on Netflix.
Typically, we'd point to review aggregate site, Rotten Tomatoes as a general steer on a movie's wider reception, though "The Sand Castle" does not yet have a score logged on the site.
However, Variety's Manuel Betancourt did review "The Sand Castle" upon its premiere at the Red Sea Film Festival. They wrote: "While Matty Brown's dreamy film plays more like a children's fable than the harrowing thriller it sometimes flirts with becoming, its oblique stab at storytelling ends up muddling its ambitious vision and well-intended message."
If you've already streamed "The Sand Castle" or are something else to watch, be sure to check out our guide to all the best Netflix movies you can stream right now.
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