THE SHALLOWS (2016) Review
Directed by Jamume Collet-Serra
“127 Hours in water with a raging shark = Intense!”
There haven’t been a lot of shark movies recently, some are direct-to-TV which are ridiculously just guilty pleasures *coughs* Sharknado, but even with a small list of movies, there are not enough Shark films that are worth remembering, especially for its effectiveness in bringing suspense to its audience.
The film is about Nancy (Blake Lively), a medical student who is coping with the loss of her mom and decided to finally go to the beach where her mother stayed and surfed while she was pregnant. Despite the danger of surfing alone, Nancy decides to soak up the sun and hit the waves. Suddenly, a great white shark attacks, forcing her to swim to a giant rock for safety. Left injured and stranded 200 yards from shore, the frightened young woman must fight for her life as the deadly predator circles her in its feeding ground
The Shallows will probably be remembered for being an effective suspense thriller movie. The story is simple but it manages to be the exciting and intense experience you wanted when you go and see a movie. The film slowly builds up its story, not in a big way but most of the time, it’s just Nancy, the Shark and everything around them. That even though it’s just a beach, you wouldn’t expect some of the surprises the film has in store. And it manages to pull every scares effectively.
Blake Lively definitely shines in her performance, she convincingly portrays the strong and willed character who doesn’t want to die in that moment. The advantage of the film is that it only has one character to follow and it’s easy enough, you just have to go with her struggles and the surprises, suspenseful ones included that comes along with it.
4 OUT OF 5 STARS
“The Shallows” opens in Philippine cinemas on August 10 with Sneak Previews on August 1 and 2 at select cinemas. Distributed locally by Columbia Pictures, rated PG by the MTRCB.