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Sep 29, 2014 By Jennifer Chang Web Exclusive

Fish seem to have disappeared from the sea and Abdi, a young Somali fisherman who can no longer feed his family, sends his wife and son to Yemen. Gripped by the fear that he will never earn enough money to reunite with his family, Abdi joins a band of pirates and hijacks an oil tanker. While the ransom negotiation is underway, Abdi forms a bond with a captive. Yet as the payoff decreases by the day, Abdi’s crewmates become more desperate and dangerous, and the chance for a safe hostage exchange becomes increasingly slim.

Like the audience, Abdi knows from the beginning the attack is a terrible idea, and the only question seems to be how quickly things will fall apart. The answer is: agonizingly slowly. While the raid on the oil tanker is a seat-grabbing experience, action grinds to a halt after Abdi and his crew take a hostage off the ship to hide in a remote camp. There is no tense ransom negotiation; just the wait that imprisons everyone – the captives, the hijackers, and perhaps most importantly, the viewers. After Abdi’s initial decision to join the pirates, he stops making choices and passively watches as the potential financial gain keeps slicing back: the tanker is not worth as much, the ship owner is unable to meet the original demand. Each time the money drains, the pirates’ paranoia is turned up just a notch. While this builds up to an ending that is superb and harrowing, the greater part of Fishing Without Nets feels like watching a slow drowning.

www.films.vice.com/fishing-without-nets/

Author rating: 4/10