It feels like if you live and work at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, literally 10km straight down the belly of the ocean, you’re kind of asking for trouble. Not to blame the victims, but you’ve got to know drilling holes into and beyond the darkest depths of one of the last unexplored corners of the earth is a risky endeavour.
Norah (Kristen Stewart) is brushing her teeth…at some unspecified time. It’s hard to distinguish night from day when the sun and the moon are irrelevant. A small tremor at first, but enough of a shake to make her cautious. And soon: chaos. We don’t know exactly what’s happening but neither does she. Barely ahead of death and destruction, she races the flood and the collapsing quarters to a hub where she meets Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), a colleague whom she’s just now meeting for the first time, and together they slam the hold shut, sealing it from rushing water but also panicking survivors. Tough. When you’re that far beneath the ocean, there’s no room for error or second thoughts. Crawling over squashed bodies and around drowned bodies, they eventually meet up with barely a handful of other survivors: Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), Paul (T.J. Miller, ugh), Liam (John Gallagher Jr.). and Emily (Jessica Henwick). Which is when they realize that until now, they’ve had it easy. Their station is in ruins, so their only chance is to traverse the ocean floor toward the next one, where hopefully escape pods will still be intact. It’s practically impossible and completely dangerous, but what choice do they have?
Underwater will certainly call to mind other wet movies: The Abyss, perhaps, if not The Meg. It’s nonstop action and nonstop stress. There is tension in every breath. It is awful not to know the cause, and then it’s awful knowing it. Director William Eubank is relentless and it’s hard not to take that personally. My breathing is fast and shallow and I’m not even the one stripping to my underwear, shoving my broken arm into a very uncomfortable diving suit, rationing my oxygen, and taking on the ocean’s meanest predators in the Earth’s most hostile environment because the other threat is so much worse.
It’s a man vs. nature film that doesn’t quite tread any new water (forgive me), but it does stay afloat, buoyed by those that came before it. It’s formulaic and familiar, but it’s also a competent thriller and modestly entertaining.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
Nice
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It is definitely a competent thriller, I’m with you. As you say, it doesn’t break any new ground, but I tend to have fun with these types of flicks. This one was no exception.
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It’s amazing that a film can be so derivative and still be competent. William Eubank might be one to watch.
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This sounds like a nail biter. Didn’t it was Kristen Stewart in it. Has been a girl crush since the Twilight movies came out. Your description sounds great. Think I’ll watch this one too!
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I decided to pass on this one. At this time, there’s already too much stress above water.
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Even though he wasn’t the star or anything, they still managed to kill the black guy within the first 20 minutes or so, though. *grrrrr*
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I know. It’s so obvious – how dare they, really?
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My husband always says that – the black guy dies first. He’s usually right!
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This is one of those tropes that I avoid. Sounds like it was well done, though.
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If this came on TV, I’d probably watch it but I’m in no rush at the moment mostly because of TJ Miller.
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Yeah, this one suffered delays – it was actually filmed 3 years ago, so they may have cast this one differently. I don’t really care for him even if he wasn’t a creep.
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I like The Abyss but its alien ex machina ending always bothers me–and the extended cut is even worse with its preachiness. It sounds like this is a more realistic take on a similar idea and I want to check this out.
Somewhat realistic, anyway. It’s very unlikely that you’ll find large and dangerous predators at that depth. Temperature and oxygen scarcity slow everything down. Bigger concerns would be getting stuck in the ooze or aftershocks from the quake.
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I might have to check this out. Sounds better than I thought.
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Sounds very suspenseful! Put me in mind a little bit too of The Poseidon Adventure.
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I was surprisingly entertained by this considering I don’t really like underwater movies or Stewart. Or TJ Miller for that matter. Nice work, friend.
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I had such high hopes for this movie. Yes, it’s well-made but, in the end: it is run-of-the-mill. I think, if not for TJ Miller’s litany of personal-legal issues, this wouldn’t have been released during a “dump month” and produced a better box office than it die.
The reason for my lukewarmness to the film: Director William Eubank’s first two, under-the-radar films, the low-budget science fiction dramas Love (2011) and The Signal (2014), rightfully received worldwide critical acclaim for their ingenuity on a tight budget. Both are great films. It saddens me his career took a hit for situations beyond his control. Eubank is the type of indie director that needs — should be — called up to the majors.
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