Two sisters vacationing in Mexico are trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. With less than an hour of oxygen left and great white sharks circling nearby, they must fight to survive.
Starring: Mandy Moor, Claire Holt, and Matthew Modine
Directed by: Johannes Roberts
Written by: Johannes Roberts and Ernest Riera
As a big horror fan, it’s hard to find a horror movie that truly gets me to jump out of my seat. However, with a true fear of sharks, shark movies have always kept me on edge. Envisioning being in the situation these characters find themselves in always keeps a little terrifying tingle in me. So how terrifying is it “47 Meters Down?”
Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt) are sisters with different personalities. Lisa is the cautious type, and may be even described as boring. Kate, on the other hand, seems to always be up for the next adventure. When two locals ask the girls to join them in an underwater experience with great white sharks, it’s no surprise which one of sisters is all in.
After the slow introduction to the sisters, they make it to the boat, and see a cage that only a crazy person would get in. Yes, they’re crazy, and in they eventually go. It’s all beautiful looking out into the ocean with several giant whites around until the cable breaks, and 47 meters down they go. Finally the movie has my full attention, as I begin my string of “hell no’s” to everything the sisters do to try to save themselves.
Being the more experienced diver, Kate swims out of the cage to get radio communication with the boat. It might not seem like much, but the darkness surrounding her and knowing sharks are out there is crazy. Soon enough, it’s Lisa’s turn to swim out of the cage, which is even crazier because she’s no where near as calm as Kate. It’s almost laughable cause she really has no idea what she’s doing. The sisters hang on just long enough to appear to have been rescued. The cage begins to rise, but then the audience gets an even wilder fall back to 47 meters down.
Running out of air, both sisters find themselves in pure desperation mode. It’s here that the movie really makes its mark with some unexpected chain of events. Without spoiling these events, I’ll move onto the sharks. If the audience is expecting this to be bloody, and filled with deaths…forget about it. Much like “The Shallows,” the sharks do more swim by scares, then killing anyone. It’s definitely more psychological through most of the movie, just knowing they’re out there, but not ever being sure when they’ll appear. Probably the best moment with the sharks occurs with the use of some underwater flares, and what comes shortly after.
Mandy and Claire both do a good job handling their roles. Mandy seems to have the harder job because her character did more of the freaking out. After watching “The Shallows” and seeing most of the action take place just off shore, it’s good to see an underwater shark movie. However, much like “The Shallows,” it’s lacking in deaths by sharks. Seriously, if audiences want to see sharks and no deaths, they can see real ones on Shark Week! Because it still has moments that will freak out someone who fears sharks like me and a nice twist, I give "47 Meters Down" 2.5 pools of blood.
HorrO
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