First clip from J.C. Chandor's 'All Is Lost' starring Robert Redford

Here's the interesting thing about film festivals, especially the big ones like Cannes, when you're not actually there to attend it: You pretty much know right away whether a film has won or failed. For instance, when Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling's Only God Forgives got booed mercilessly by the Croisette crowd, it spread all over the Internets like a rash in a matter of minutes. At the same time, when a film that nobody was expecting much from turns out to be the surprise hit of the show....well, it can be the kind of boost that catapults it to future glory.

Such is the case with All Is Lost, the follow-up feature from J.C. Chandor, who burst onto the scene a couple of years ago with his economic crisis flick, Margin Call. The film earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay, and Chandor decided his next move was to do a complete 180 and tell a story of human survival featuring a screen legend and practically no dialogue. Robert Redford, who at the age of 76 is performing most of his own stunts, plays a man on a solo voyage who wakes to discover his yacht taking on water in the middle of the Indian Ocean. As he works to fix the damage and repair the radio, a violent storm approaches and he must do whatever he can to survive the assault.

The first clip has been released, and if anything it shows that this isn't going to be just another Cast Away. Redford's character is silently working atop the ship's mast, while the storm looms ominously in the distance. Look for All Is Lost to hit theaters on October 25th.