The Reef

The Reef (2010) is a movie directed by Andrew Traucki. It's a new generation shark movie, and probably the one that gets closest to being a horror movie. It's an Australian movie so the actor's accent might be a problem for non-native English speakers that aren't used to it, I recommend toggling the subtitles on if possible.

The movie starts off in medias res, with a group of friends heading to Indonesia with a sailboat. We find out eventually, that two of the protagonists had a relationship in the past, that functions as side story that isn't too relevant, especially towards the end. During the trip the sailboat hits the bottom of the reef and tips over, making it unable for the characters to proceed. They choose to swim to the nearest island, about 12 miles from the shore, but a great white shark that swims in the area won't make things easy for them.

As I am always kind of skeptic about new shark movies, I didn't have high hopes for this one either. But it turned out to be better than what I expected it to be. As I said, it has some jump scares and it's the most realistic shark movie I have seen. It is not based on a true story but it could have easily been. It's the only shark movie that made me think twice before jumping into deep waters again.

In my opinion, the acting was good, with a lot of screaming and macabre reactions, that really gave me the feeling that I was watching a real event and not a movie. It's nothing too extreme, but that's exactly how a horror shark movie should be, realistic.

I would recommend this movie, alongside with Steven Spielberg's Jaws, as the shark movies you need to watch as a shark fanatic. Solid plot, good cast and overall a more than average shark movie worth watching.

Watched this on Netflix. Really good low budget Shark movie that sits above all other shark flicks except Jaws (1975). The direction and pace of this film is superb with lots of suspense and the acting from all the cast is great, I actually cared for the characters, not something I often feel! Big thumbs up.

Following in the wake of the popular "Jaws" movies, there have been a recent wave of these shark survival/lost at sea movies around. And "The Reef" is actually one of the better movies in the genre.

The story is pretty easy to follow, a yacht gets capsized and starts to sink, and a group of people decide to swim for an island. Well, given the choice of being left on a sinking boat caught in the currents or taking your chances and swimming to land, well the choice is fairly obvious.

Anyway, what makes this movie stand out from others like "Adrift" and "Open Water" is that there is much more shark time, and you actually get to see the shark in good views. And also, somehow you start to, in an odd way, cheer on when you see the shark, because the movie is constantly building up suspense and thrills, and you just want these to peak. And there are some nice peaks to these thrills, trust me. I am not going to ruin anything and say what it is, but I liked it.

I think the movie captured human nature when caught in a hopeless situation and when people start having to respond to the chaos around them. The dialogue was good and the actors portrayed their characters very good and in very believable manners.

However, what puzzles me was that it would be the same shark that is stalking the people throughout the movie. That seems very weird. And also, like someone else pointed out, what was up with the constant taking off and putting on the goggles that Luke was doing? That made no sense at all.

But all in all, "The Reef" is definitely worth your time, especially if you like shark movies, or movies that tear on the human psyche.

"Your more likely to die from a bee sting then get killed be a shark." After the boat that they are on gets damaged and is unable to move, five friends must decide to wait it out on the boat or swim to an island. When the decision is made they soon begin to regret their choice. First of all I will say that I did enjoy the movie. I have not yet seen the movie "Open Water", but after watching this I feel like I have. This movie is repetitive but keeps you watching. People swim, they see a shark...over and over. Like "Open Water" this is a true story, which helps in the enjoyment of this. There really isn't much more to say about this movie, not too much to it, but it is entertaining. Overall, I liked it, but if you have seen "Open Water" this may be too much of the same thing to fully enjoy it. I give it a B.

Would I watch again? - I don't think I will.

*Also try - Frozen & Open Water

Alright, so this is never going to win any Oscars, yet it was very entertaining.

The character development was good, I actually cared for each person, which for me is a great indicator. If you can pull that off, it's got a bit of quality right there. Nothing felt fake or over/under done. The shark shots were real, no fake plastic models to be found! The movie was often pretty tense, i found myself literally on the edge of my couch. It was nice to hear the Aussie accents and it didn't feel "americanised" in any way. A great little movie with dedicated actors and a solid, scary story! Well done.