Sharks are fascinating, as evidence by people’s obsession with the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. Made famous with the classic movie “Jaws,” the shark themes have been repeated countless times since then to varying, but mostly negative degrees of success.
Johannes Roberts (“The Strangers”) takes the plunge with the 2017 thriller “47 Meters Down.” The movie stars pop singer and occasional actress Mandy Moore. Its a shockingly thrilling piece, with a few expected ho-hum type moments and an ending that’s not the direction I was hoping for, but all in all is a capable, edge of your seat thriller.
Sisters Lisa and Kate (Moore and Claire Holt) are vacationing in Mexico and are looking for adventure. They meet a pair of hunky looking natives who persuade them to experience the Great White Sharks via a cage dive. As you may expect, things don’t go quite as the girls planned.
At the open of the movie, I frowned at the backstory set in place that leads the girls out onto the boat. While its okay, I don’t really think it’s needed. Two sisters are on vacation and they decide to go thrill seeking is plenty. The need to showcase Lisa as having been recently dumped and trying to win her ex back was unnecessary. However, this bit of dialogue perfectly sets up some touching conversations that the sisters will have throughout the movie.
Some of the gratuitous foreshadowing at the beginning is silly. One scene depicts Kate’s wine spilling in a swimming pool and looking like bloody water. Later, she tells Lisa the dive will be the “best time ever” as if anyone has ever said that to anyone else. As is also the case with many of these stories, the sharks themselves go from reclusive sea creatures to cold-blooded (pun intended) murderes. The idea that a Great White Shark is nearby is frightening enough. No need to include the shark doing un-sharklike things, and there’s a handful of these types of moments in the movie.
Another element of fear in “47 Meters Down” comes from the sketchy nature of the boat captain and his assistant. The viewer is left wondering if they are planning something nefarious, or just awkward at conversation. Since the majority of the film takes place beneath the surface of the ocean, the audience, along with Lisa and Kate, are left wondering if the boat has completely abandoned them.
Johannes Roberts, who wrote and directed, does a brilliant job of making things that should be scary, really scary. There are some cool images of the sharks swimming amidst the dark waters, and the cage itself is enough to send anyone to the brink of nightmares. Additional elements of terror are added when the shark cage malfunctions, and of course there is a finite amount of oxygen available in the scuba tanks. One of the most horrifying scenes occurs when the girls are in the cage after it breaks down, and Moore and Holt each do a capable job of acting as anyone would – completely terrified.
I enjoyed Mandy Moore’s performance. Lisa is a play-it-safe girl, and that’s pretty much the type of person one would expect Moore to be (In her early musical rivalries, she’s the opposite of Christina Auguilera). In “47 Meters Down” we see Moore perfectly portray someone who never takes chances, from the peer pressure urging of the shark dive (which she is initially reluctant to do) to her moments of panic in the wake of the deadly situation.
Being in a completely safe shark cage submerged under the water is a horrifying prospect on its own. Add some faulty equipment and some menacing sharks and you have a solid recipe for a thrilling ride.
Happy Shark Week.
