Something in the Water

Ridiculous premise from the outset.

It is like an Enid Blyton novel, 'Five Diverse Babes Go lesbian Relationship Counselling At Sea'. What could possibly go wrong?

Obviously, the film is low budget and in this case, it shows.

The direction is basic. The script divests you of feeling for the protagonists whose characterisation is quite two dimensional.. The plot is ridiculous and written with stupid characters making stupid decisions and written by people who have no idea about shark behaviour.

Although I did say it was low budget there are some drone and cityscape establishing shots but I have no idea what relevance they have to the main part of the story.

'I can't pee, if you are looking at me'.......they are all stranded in the water at sea. Laugh out loud funny. Very nearly 'Showgirls, so bad it's good' bad.

After an unprovoked attack, a couple split, their friends try to bring the couple to their senses, by leaving them on an island, but their good intentions turn to horror, as they find themselves stranded in shark infested waters.

I keep on hoping for a good shark movie, but it seems as though they're few and far between. This one isn't as ridiculous as Ghost Shark or Shark side of the moon, it takes itself a little more seriously, but it's still a little nonsensical.

There's nothing new here, we have genuinely seen it all a tonne of times before, but I can't say it's bad or unwatchable, it just lacks tension and excitement.

It looks nice, some really great location work, the sharks look decent, even if they're behaving in a somewhat odd manner.

The characters, though well acted are a little irritating, so don't be surprised if you find yourself rooting for team shark.

5/10.

Something in the Water is a new thriller directed by Hayley Easton Street, who makes her real directorial debut with this film after some short films.

Before a wedding, the bride's group of friends decide to take a boat trip before the wedding. When one of the friends is bitten by a hair while swimming, the friends rush back to the boat.

Due to the panic that has arisen, they hit a rock during the return trip, which causes the boat to sink and the five of them end up in the open water with a dangerous shark lurking.

This film is being sold as a mix between the films Jaws and Bridesmaids, only without the talent behind these films. Due to the poorer script and direction, you don't really care about most of the characters during the film. The more novice actresses receive little or no guidance.

When the characters are also stupid because of the weak script. Or making separate decisions only makes you care less about them. You almost hope that the shark catches them quickly, so that the film can end earlier.

Something in the Water has quite a few problems but it's ultimately a bad movie because it is so boring. Its concept struggles to sustain a feature length film even at a mercifully short 86 minutes long and there's barely any thrills or tension to be found. It takes too long to get to the big inciting incident and once it does its still not enough to give the film any energy as the characters just argue in the middle of the ocean for most of it.

No one in this is particularly good and it really doesn't help that they're all working with such thinly sketched characters. It's a very small cast so they have to carry the film and no one can rise to the task unfortunately, although Hiftu Quasem and Natalie Mitson definitely come the closest. They constantly make dumb decisions which is obviously frustrating and makes it significantly harder to root for their survival.

Hayley Easton Street's direction doesn't deliver the goods. When it comes to Shark movies, less is usually more, however, the presence of the sharks here is barely felt exacerbated by kills that are seriously lacking in any bite. For better or worse there's barely any jump scares here either. At least they are actually on the water and the score by Nainita Desai and Harry Peat does a decent job of creating a shred of suspense.

A new marine chiller that attempts to revive the killer shark subgenre but fails in several key areas. Despite its potential and an almost entirely female cast, Hayley Easton Street's film fails to bring any freshness or real excitement to the genre. With a script that mixes elements from "Open Water" and "The Shallows"," relying on clichés and implausible situations, the movie ends up being more of a simple and boring exercise than a suspenseful thriller with low-quality special effects that diminish the threat of the shark. Rather than offering a frightening experience, it remains a failed attempt to replicate the success of its predecessors.