100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 117: The Shallows

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Genre: Action/ Thriller
Runtime: 86 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Blake Lively

Description: A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy (Blake Lively) is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.

Review: When it comes to shark movie, there is only one masterpiece: “Jaws”. Hollywood has made many terrible films featuring this animal, some even more ridiculous than others. It looks like “The Shallows” is a more serious try again, and it does succeed for most of the runtime.
Medical student Nancy traveled a long way to visit a secret beach in Mexico, the place her mother once visited and told her about. Because her friend is in bed with a hangover, Nancy decides to go surfing by herself. When she is knocked off of her surfboard and is wounded, she discovers she intruded the territory of a great white shark. She manages to climb upon a rock formation, but high tide is kicking in soon and Nancy has to find a way to survive.
Director Jaume Collet-Serra realizes it’s scarier to not show the shark. This works and makes the movie thrilling and a real nail biter. Later in the movie, the shark gets shown more often and it looks pretty good. “The Shallows” is a pretty scary film and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Towards the end, the film loses its credibility.
We get to know Nancy a little bit, we know her backstory and I really sympathized her. And that’s where “The Shallows” doesn’t fit into the B-movie category. Although the story may not be the most genius, the character is interesting and the film looks really good. Collet-Serra’s directorial style is beautiful, he uses a bright color palette and slow motions. The images under water are stunning. And the director managed to make Blake Lively look at her absolute best. Lively does a very good job by the way. Solid performance.
“The Shallows” is pure summer entertainment. And it’s an actual good shark movie, Hollywood needed that. Although the credibility is lost towards the end, the film is overall better than I expected it to be. And who didn’t love the sidekick Steven Seagull?

Rating: 4/ 5