In a world where shark movies are seen as just B-grade horror, it was refreshing to have respected actors, great special effects, and genuine emotion in Deep Water.
Now this isn’t the first time we’ve had a shark movie that took place on a plane. Most recently we had the 2024 movie No Way Up. That movie saw the plane completely submerged and the survivors fighting for their lives with sharks outside. Deep Water does something different by separating the plane into three pieces. This enabled different stories to develop independently, making the movie stronger.
That’s not to say everything was perfect for Deep Water.
At times I found myself cringing because they were trying too hard. And then at other times, Deep Water ignored shark movie parameters for the plot. But at least they gave me someone to hate. Remember that when you watch Deep Water. Come with an understanding that there will be one character you will hate with your entire being. And that will motivate you through every killing and narrow shark attack.
So here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly of Deep Water!
MORE: Sharks on a plane is peak cinema! Read our review for No Way Up here!
The Good
As someone who watches way too many shark movies, it was really surprising to see well-known actors like Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley in a shark movie. And Deep Water does a good job at establishing early on that Eckhart is the first officer that’s going to survive and lead us on this journey. And he does it all with this deep voice action-star “I’m the captain now” sentiment that is so cheesy but manages to not cross the line into unbearable.
Since this movie clearly has money to hire well-known actors, the sharks look great too.
Oftentimes movies don’t have the budget to give us a good looking shark. This movie does. That makes it so Deep Water had no problem making the shark jump into a boat or do the big money shot where the shark jumps up to grab onto the rescuer and bring the helicopter down. Basically I found myself often screaming at the TV and cackling, as if I could change the outcome of what was going on because of how immersed I was.
Outside of the cheesiness though, I have to give Deep Water kudos for the music and atmosphere.
When the plane was going down, Deep Water took the same care in the crash sequence that The Society of the Snow did. I was terrified when watching the crash sequence in this movie more than when the sharks appeared. And it’s because it looked great, it sounded great, and the movie sprinkled little bits of character development along the way that made you feel for these people and what they were going through.
MORE: Did you know that Bridgerton‘s Phoebe Dynevor was in a shark movie? Read our review for Thrash here!
The Bad
Despite how much I love the cheese factor on top of the serious heart that Deep Water had, I do think that it failed a lot of its characters. Because a lot of people are going to die. But at least give me a couple to care about.
Oftentimes Deep Water started plot points that led nowhere. They wasted time setting up multiple character arcs for them just to be swiftly ended. And it felt like red shirt after red shirt where someone was introduced, given the beginnings of a whole story I could invest in, and then swiftly killed. You can do that once or twice in a movie. But you can’t do it in the amount of times this movie did.
I also felt that sometimes I was watching different movies trying to be one.
Sometimes Deep Water was a poignant movie about the human spirit and survival. At other times I felt like one of the main kids was actually a cursed demon who brought the plane down because she was mad that her dad got a new wife and kid. And then at other times I thought we were watching a sweet little romance, forehead kisses included.
Deep Water could have been a more effective movie in general if it cut out all these unnecessary storylines and picked a lane when it came to what kind of movie it was within the genre.
The Ugly
I want to dedicate an entire part of this review to the douche that Angus Sampson plays in Deep Water.
Sampson is probably a really really nice guy in real life. I don’t know anything personal about him and the only other time I’ve seen him is when he played one of those nerds in Insidious: Chapter 2. Oh yeah and he’s in The Lincoln Lawyer. But his face is now synonymous with one of the most annoying characters that I have ever seen on a screen, big or small.
I spent the entirety of Deep Water hoping that his character would die. Because his carelessness is what led to the crash in the first place. And he continued being self-centered and plain old rude to everyone around him, no matter if they actually helped him during or after the crash. That hate fueled me in a way where I didn’t care about who was dying, whether it was Grandma’s or kids, as long as this douche died. And it was worth it, because he got what he deserved.
All that to say, congratulations Angus Sampson. Your character was nearly cartoon levels of evil and I wanted Eckhart’s character to just chuck you in the water for the sharks to nibble on. I haven’t felt that sort of hate since Jill Wagner’s Kate Argent in Teen Wolf. And that goes to show you how great of a job you did that I hope to never see your face again. But if I do, I will remember this role.
Watch the trailer for Deep Water trailer below:
Deep Water premieres May 1st in theaters.
