Review of Open Water (2004) by Melvin W — 28 Sep 2013

Daniel: Other people go on vacation and spend their days just laying around. We have a story we're going to be telling for the rest of our lives.

"Don't get left behind.".

Open Water is a well done independent thriller. Supposedly based on actual events, but this event is something I'm not familiar with, so I have a hard time believing that this is even close to the real event. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Open Water a great deal. It may be the scariest(and when I say scary, I mean from the real life aspect of it) shark movie ever. It's a serious movie, that makes the viewer feel like they are floating around in the middle of the ocean.

A couple goes on vacation and decide to go diving on a reef tour. When the count is botched, they are left behind without notice. The rest of the movie is an excursion into the levels of human fear, panic, and insanity. All of it is done very well and I was left feeling claustrophobic even though the movie is set in the the most wide open of settings.

The acting isn't tremendous, but that isn't too big of a deal. Most of the embarrassing acting is in the beginning before the diving trip. In the panic and stress moments though, I think the actors did a fairly good job portraying the characters feelings. What sets the movie apart though is how atmospheric and dark toned it is, and just how real life it all feels. .

Open Water is one of those shark movies you have to see. It's not a masterpiece like Jaws, but it is still one of the best. I think it's a completely underrated film that is deserving of much more admiration than it received. If you give it a shot, there's the possibility of finding a new hidden gem of filmmaking.