Rating: B-
Dir: Joachim Hedén
Star: Jack Parr, Kim Spearman, Julian Sands, Alexander Arnold
Hedén certainly likes his underwater thrillers. He was responsible for Breaking Surface, a crisp and precise movie about two sisters on a diving trip, one of whom gets trapped at the bottom by a rockfall [it received an inferior American remake as The Dive]. This relocates things from a Scandinavian fjord to the Caribbean, expands the cast in numbers, and the main threat becomes relentless and hungry sharks. The results here are a little less effective, largely because this is over familiar [Writers Andrew Prendergast and Nick Saltrese also worked on the enjoyable Shark Bait] However, Hedén executes things with enough energy to overcome the sense of de-shark vu, and makes for an entertaining time.
It begins in WW2 with the sinking of the USS Charlotte by a German U-boat, the survivors falling victim to aquatic predators. 80 years later, a storm uncovers the wreck. It’s found by diver Noah (Parr) and grizzled veteran Levi (Sands, in his final movie role), just before Noah’s friends show up, including level-headed nurse Sam (Spearman) and obnoxious influencer Brett (Arnold). The latter is desperate to dive on the wreck, and makes Noah an offer he can’t refuse – especially because Levi is thirty-six thousand dollars in debt. The descent is fine. However, the group find themselves trapped inside the sunken ship, by a couple of hungry, large and very persistent sharks. Air is dwindling, forcing Noah and friends into making some difficult decisions if they are to survive.
There are points where the script is almost amusingly obvious to any shark movie connoisseur. For example, Levi’s fate is sealed, the moment we learn he had to give up diving, but still keeps his gear in a locker on the boat. There’s also the general rule of thumb that the chances of a character’s survival is inversely proportional to how annoying they are. The film obeys the traditions of its genre, to a point it feels almost like a slasher movie with sharks replacing the masked psychopath. But just as slasher films can still be fun – indeed, their predictability is part of it – so this still succeeds. Because it delivers what you want: if there’s little doubt who will survive, the way they do so remains to be determined.
The characters are mostly functional, and the fact it largely takes place underwater, with everyone masked up, does limit the acting possible. It may explain why Sands, who largely stays above water, comes off best, and there is a poignancy to his appearance here, in the light of subsequent events. The effects are similarly good enough for the purpose, though mere competence there likely puts this above many shark films. It is certainly a pleasant surprise to see one given an adequate amount of resources. But I think it’s mostly Hedén’s direction which is the key. He keeps things simple yet effective; this moves forward with the same relentless flow as one of the predators, pulling the viewer with it.
The film is available to watch through the usual digital channels on July 26.