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Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Running time: 80 mins 

Cast: Blake Lively, Oscar Jaenada, 

Nancy, played by Blake Lively finds the perfect beach to surf with its picturesque white sands and it’s clear waters. Oh and it’s shark. Stranded 200 yards from the shore, Nancy and the shark play cat and mouse together their own way. 

At a cool 80 minutes or so this little action horror manages to keep things fresh when there’s limited ways for things to play out. I would say it rides the line of movie shark rather than real shark as the fight draws to its crescendo. Until that point though, I felt myself pulling my legs close to my chair as I rooted for the plight of Nancy. 

There’s been a handful of shark water movies since Spielberg made his classic in the late 70’s but this one feels it’s succeeds where many others don’t. There’s a sense of realism, for the most part and I like the modern use of social media and the way filmmakers integrate the media onto the screen for our reading. There’s too much slow motion in the first half and it is mostly taking in Blake Lively’s body which while admittedly is something she should be proud of, made me feel a little uncomfortable in its voyeurism. 

Put this on if you want a little suspenseful fun. 

C Whitehouse 2016