Wednesday Review: The Shallows

The Shallows is a pretty straightforward film: A surfer is bitten by a huge shark, and trapped on an island that will disappear at high tide, while the shark waits in the water for her. As time ticks by her wound festers, and she tries to think of ways to get away, signal for help, or hurt the shark.

I was really shocked by the positive reviews this movie was getting. The trailer had convinced me it would be little more than disposable shlock. Looking at it now, the film did two things very right, while the trailer got them all wrong.

Firstly, the trailer features a very prominent view of the shark, and the shark looked terrible. I was honestly reminded of Sharknado, and found myself asking if this was a parody. Based on the trailer I was actually fairly surprised the film was getting a theatrical release.

Secondly, the trailer presents a line by two other surfers in a way that gives the impression we’re supposed to fear them (while also showing them both die). I’ve talked in the past about my problem with horror movies that makes the lives of the protagonists incredibly depressing even before the monster comes. While it can work, in most cases it’s far more tragic to watch people who are generally happy and have enjoyable lives to lose suffer.

Thankfully, both of these fears were false. The movie falls back on the technique of Jaws, and goes over half the movie without showing the audience a clear view of the shark. By the time we reach the shot in the trailer, while the shark still looks bad, the audience is invested enough to not care.

As for the depressing part...no. The other surfers are just two cool guys who our protagonist spends an afternoon hanging out with. While it’s strongly implied her mother died, she mentions going to this particular isolated surf spot because other mother told her about it, it’s clear that she’s coping with the tragedy as well as can be expected. This is a happy person, and watching her fight to survive, we feel deeply for her.

The movie, much like Green Room, plays out in a very Hitchcockian manner, but with more gore. You give the audience information, make it clear that the protagonist has a limited number of things she can do, and many things she cannot do, and watch her attempt to solve the problem. As the minutes tick by, we get the sense of the situation becoming more and more desperate. It’s an old way of telling a story, but it’s a good one.

I do have some issues with the resolution given to us. However, I can’t really address that without spoilers. I’ll suffice it to say that this movie features some truly dumb moments. Still, I care enough that I can accept most of them.

So, while I expect the film to be out of most cinemas by the time this review goes up (since someone decided to give me a long gap in my horror releases, and then cram a bunch of them together), I do highly recommend it. Catch it in a second-run theatre, or stream it. I think it should play well in either format.