The Shallows

The Shallows

2016

Director- Jaume Collet-Serra

Cast- Blake Lively, Óscar Jaenada, Brett Cullen, Sedona Legge

            

     Nancy (Blake Lively) is a student going on a vacation to deal with the recent death of her mother. She plans to go surfing with a friend but her friend bails after a night of partying, leaving Nancy to surf with the locals.

            

    

   She spends the day forgetting her troubles and after the locals have gone in, she decides to catch the last remaining waves. Something in the distance catches her eye and she swims out to find a floating whale carcass. Unfortunately for her, the carcass has also attracted a particularly vicious Great White Shark which takes a bite out of Nancy’s leg.

            

     Nancy is able to make it to a rock jutting out of the water and seeks shelter while the shark patrols the water around her. She has to perform a kind of battlefield surgery on her leg, sewing it up with threads from her surfboard straps. Her tiny island is only a temporary refuge however, as high tide will eventually come in.

            

     Other people show up on the beach but they are of little use as the shark makes quick work of them. Nancy is all alone and must deal with the shark herself, or end up as its next victim.

           

     For all practical purposes, this movie is a one woman show. Blake Lively spends most of the story by herself and the isolation definitely lends tension to the story. Not only does she face the very real possibility of being eaten alive, she faces it alone. Blake being decked out in her skimpy surfer attire may make it easier on the eye to watch this film, but it also heightens the anxiety. She’s as close to naked and defenseless as a human can be.

           

    

   I imagine a role like this can be an actors dream. Every scene is hers and the weight of the film is entirely on her shoulders, sink or swim. Blake does a good job and I was thoroughly convinced of her plight.

           

     This is one of the best shark films I’ve seen (besides Jaws obviously) and the scariest I’ve seen (again, besides Jaws obviously). While watching it I found myself tensing up my legs, drawing them toward my body, as if trying to get them out of the water. The film is very effective in creating terror. Unlike Jaws which can be viewed many times because of its interesting characters, this film is more like a ride through a haunted house. I don’t know if it would hold up to repeated viewings, but if you want to be scared for an hour and half, the first viewing can definitely provide that.