Director: Renny Harlin
Writers: Pete Bridges, Shayne Armstrong, S.P. Krause
Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, Angus Sampson
Synopsis: A group of international passengers en route from Los Angeles to Shanghai are forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. Now they must work together in hopes to overcome the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage.
Shark films have an almost primal pull. Maybe it’s the simplicity of the threat, something ancient, unseen, and circling beneath us, or the way they tap into a fear we can’t outrun once we’re in the water. From Jaws setting the gold standard, to leaner survival thrillers like The Shallows and recent streaming entries like Thrash, the genre thrives on tension, isolation and the unpredictability of nature. It also thrives on being… trash. These films seem to accept and push on the fact they can be thrill-less, cheap, and cringy. So when I sat down to watch Deep Water, I was hoping to get a tight, nerve-shredding descent into aquatic terror. What I got instead was something far more subdued, and at times, oddly adrift.
Directed by Renny Harlin, this film drifts between stretches of quiet unease and sudden bursts of danger, often prioritizing atmosphere over momentum. The story follows a small group navigating open water after a traumatic incident leaves them stranded, their vulnerability heightened by the growing sense that they are no longer alone beneath the surface. They now must work together to survive the group of sharks coming for them. Deep Water is thoughtful in places, visually striking in others, and anchored by performances that keep you invested even when the narrative drifts.
The performances do a lot of heavy lifting in this film. Ben Kingsley is confident and charming as ever, with Aaron Eckhart being more suave and intense. Both actors do bring some gravitas to the film and the rest of the cast does well in keeping up to their standard. We have an array of characters, and for me, the characters Matt and Becky bring the best comic relief – their characters are honest and not cheesy and not typical, like a separated family or couple. It is quite a large cast, and I did expect more deaths, more savageness from the sharks and the sea.
Tonally, the film sits somewhere between psychological drama and survival thriller, but never fully commits to either. It hints at deeper themes; guilt, trauma, the fragility of control, but these ideas are only lightly explored. I found myself wanting the film to push further, to either embrace the raw terror of its premise or dig more deeply into the emotional fallout.
The plane crash scenes are to a very decent standard – maybe don’t watch before flying or if you’re worried at all about crashing over the ocean. It’s just a shame that the sea didn’t look like the sea. It looked like a giant pool and it was far too green and still. It missed a vastness which could have represented how alone the passengers are. And the sea was so calm, the water itself could have been a tool to build tension and been a stronger threat. But a lot of the film does take place inside the plane craft. I also enjoyed the extravagance of half the plane being in the ocean with some people still alive in it. Unbelievable, but that’s what we want from dramatic, disaster films like this.
The sharks, arguably the main attraction, feel underutilized. When they do appear, the film briefly snaps into focus, delivering flashes of intensity that remind you what’s at stake. But those moments are fleeting. There’s a fine line between suspense and absence, and Deep Water doesn’t always stay on the right side of it.
As the story continues you do wonder where it is going. One plot is trying to reunite a little girl with her family, and the others are trying to get out of the aircraft. It feels like a lot is going on in the middle of the ocean. Everyone is going on their own emotional journey whilst waiting to be saved. Which, they eventually are, but not before a dramatic, maverick moment for our lead. The last 20 minutes are very exciting, and even if the end is predictable, you’ll still enjoy the building momentum.
In the end, Deep Water feels less like a full plunge into the genre and more like a cautious dip. It has moments that ripple with tension, but they’re spaced too far apart to fully satisfy. For a film about what lurks beneath, it spends a surprising amount of time staying on the surface, and that is where it leaves you. Deep Water is a thrilling disaster film, but if you’re looking for a shark-themed thriller, this one lacks bite. It’s a film for those who love their disaster dramas, and for those wanting something mindless on a Sunday when they’re scrolling on their phones.
