Dead Calm is a 1989 thriller film starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane. It was based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Williams. The film was directed by Australian filmmaker Phillip Noyce and filmed in the Great Barrier Reef. A troubled couple, Australian naval officer John Ingram (Neill) and his wife Rae (Kidman), lose their son in a car crash. John hopes that some time alone will help Rae, who was driving the car, cope, and the couple head out for a vacation alone on their yacht. In the middle of the Pacific they encounter a drifting boat that seems to be taking on water. A man, Hughie Warriner (Zane), rows over to the Ingram's boat for help. He claims that the boat is sinking and that his companions have all died of food poisoning. Suspicious of Hughie's story, John rows over to the other ship, leaving Rae alone with Hughie. Inside, John discovers the mangled corpses of the other passengers and video footage indicating that Hughie may have murdered them in a fit of insanity. John rushes back to his own boat but is too late as Hughie awakes, knocks out Rae and sails their yacht away, leaving John behind.