History Film / Sanctum

''Sanctum'' is a 2011 film written by Andrew Wight and executive produced by Creator/JamesCameron, among others.

[[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory Very loosley based]] on Wight's near-fatal 1988 expedition of Australia's Nullarbor cave system, the film follows master diver Frank [=McGuire=] and his crew, including his son Josh, on an expedition in the unexplored Esa'ala Cave system in Papua New Guinea. When a tropical storm starts flooding the cave, cutting them off from their planned exit, the crew must explore the uncharted and flooded caverns in order to find another way out.

* TheHero: Josh, right? Not so fast. [[spoiler: 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.]]

[[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory Very loosley based]] on Wright's near-fatal 1988 expedition of Australia's Nullarbor cave system, the film follows master diver Frank [=McGuire=] and his crew, including his son Josh, on an expedition in the unexplored Esa'ala Cave system in Papua New Guinea. When a tropical storm starts flooding the cave, cutting them off from their planned exit, the crew must explore the uncharted and flooded caverns in order to find another way out.

[[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory Very loosley based]] on Wright's near-fatal 1988 expedition of Australia's Nullarbor cave system, the follows master diver Frank [=McGuire=] and his crew, including his son Josh, on an expedition in the unexplored Esa'ala Cave system in Papua New Guinea. When a tropical storm starts flooding the cave, cutting them off from their planned exit, the crew must explore the uncharted and flooded caverns in order to find another way out.

[[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory Very loosley based]] on Wright's near-fatal 1988 expedition of Australia's Nullarbor cave system, the follows master diver Frank [=McGuire=] and his crew, including his son Josh, on an expedition in the unexplored Esa'ala Cave system in Papua New Guinea. When a tropical storm cuts flooding the cave, cutting them off from their planned exit, the crew must explore the uncharted and flooded caverns in order to find another way out.

2011 film written by Andrew Wight and produced by Creator/JamesCameron, among others.

* SurvivalMantra: Frank recites "Kubla Khan" (also less commonly known as "Xanadu") by Creator/SamuelTaylorColeridge. Josh later asks his father to teach him the poem in their mutual SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}.

* SurvivalMantra: Frank recites "Kubla Khan" (also less commonly known as "Xanadu") by Creator/SamuelTaylorColeridge. Josh later asks his father to teach him the poem in their mutual HeartwarmingMoment.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Well, sort of. Luko is a New Guinea native, dark-skinned but not African.

* ThreeDMovie

* IdiotBall: Victoria holds this most of the time, which [[spoiler: 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}} / HeroicBSOD territory [[spoiler: 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). [[spoiler: Minding one's long hair (or not keeping it that way)]] is a habit expected from a mountaineer as well.
*** [[spoiler: The hair issue]] is perhaps excusable, as by that point Victoria was suffering from hypothermia and not thinking clearly.

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

* FakeAmerican: Wales-born Ioan Gruffudd.

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

* FridgeBrilliance: [[spoiler: 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.]]
** [[spoiler: 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.]]

* WellDoneSonGuy: Josh is really detached from his cave-diving, spelunkering dad.

* SurvivalMantra: Frank recites "Kubla Khan" (also less commonly known as "Xanadu") by SamuelTaylorColeridge. Josh later asks his father to teach him the poem in their mutual HeartwarmingMoment.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Josh is really detached from his cave-diving, spelunkering dad.

* DiesWideShut: Judes drowns like this.

2011 film written by Andrew Wight and produced by JamesCameron, among others.

** [[spoiler: Carl might have been able to escape had Josh not 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.]]

* BlackDudeDiesFirst

* {{MenAreTheExpendableGenre}}: [[spoiler: {{Averted}}. And how. Judes is the first character to die, but her death merely sets the stage for Victoria's shocking demise.]]

* MenAreTheExpendableGenre: [[spoiler: {{Averted}}. And how. Judes is the first character to die, but her death merely sets the stage for Victoria's shocking demise.]]

* SurvivalMantra: 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 HeartwarmingMoment.

* [=~3-D Movie~=]