Dir.
Chris Kentis, 2004, USA, 79 minutes
Cast:
Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis
Just when you thought it was safe to stop being paranoid, they go and make the definitive shark shocker for the post- Jaws generation.
Daniel and Susan decide to take a vacation from their hectic corporate lives, but their tranquil beach-side break turns to terror when a scuba-diving trip goes horribly wrong.
"We're going out on the open ocean," says their dive guide, "so chances are you'll see a shark or three. But like I tell everybody, if you see a shark and you don't want to see a shark - close your eyes".
Closing their eyes does nothing to help Susan (Ryan) and Daniel (Travis): the dive-boat operators miscount the passengers and the boat leaves without them. So begins a terrifying 24-hours with the couple stranded in shark-infested waters.
What gives the film its visceral strength is that it's based on a true story - the disappearance of Eileen and Thomas Lonergan in 1998. They too were left behind while on a diving trip, and it wasn't until the dive operators noticed the couple's bag stowed under a bench on the boat - 48 hours later - that they realised their mistake.
With the look of a digital video shoot this could be some hapless tourists' holiday video and that makes for a very strong, intimate tale, with most of the action centred tightly on the two lead characters. As a result, there's much more of a chance to really care about them and their fate.
Without the special effects and sensational violence that both Jaws and Deep Blue Sea relied on, this is a taut, psychologically-gripping story. Kentis filmed with real sharks - Daniel Travis was even bitten by a barracuda during an early scene (although it wasn't used in the final footage).
Seeing Daniel and Susan marooned in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by miles and miles of blue gives an eerie feeling of isolation. It doesn't matter how much mankind destroys the planet, or tries to control Nature - at the end of the day, we're still part of a food chain. Poignantly, we see the couple's relationship develop under the strain of the events as they in turn band together and then blame each other.
The shark attack is nothing new to celluloid, but Kentis gives it a new angle. He moves beyond the easy violence that occurs repeatedly in other shark films to concentrate on the couple's relationship. By keeping the threat of that violence simmering in the background, he keeps the tension at boiling point and avoids a plot constructed around excuses to show people being eaten.
It's a plot that drags the viewer in. It's based on events that can and have happened, which means you're constantly aware this is an accident that could happen to you. What would you do? How would you handle it? Would you survive?
An emotionally harrowing film, but nonetheless a must-see, not only for being a nail-biting, cracking yarn, but for its inspirational, low-budget photography.
Ruth Bushi
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