Directed by Phillip Noyce • 1989 • Australia
Starring Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, Billy Zane

It’s anything but smooth sailing in this tightly wound maritime thriller, featuring a sensational Nicole Kidman in her international breakthrough performance. Adapted from a novel by pulp master Charles Williams—originally filmed by Orson Welles for an ultimately unfinished project—DEAD CALM follows grieving couple Rae (Kidman) and John Ingram (Sam Neill), who take their yacht onto the remote waters of the Pacific for a sailing expedition as they attempt to work through the recent death of their child. When they rescue the half-delirious sole survivor (Billy Zane) of a crippled schooner, the couple find themselves plunged into a desperate cat-and-mouse game on the high seas.