Reviews: The Shallows (2016) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Action
Subgenres: Survival, Isolation, Shark, Teens
Our honest review of The Shallows (2016) breaks down its scares, pacing, and whether this horror movie truly stands the test of time.
The Shallows (2016) is a 1h 27-min American survival drama horror-thriller movie that was shot in Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia and several locations in Queensland, Australia. Director Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop (2014), Unknown (2011), Orphan (2009), House of Wax (2005)) gave us an incredible movie with a minimal cast. Jaume did a fantastic job setting up the story quickly since the script was all over the place at times as it did not stay on track. The Shallows revolves around a surfer who became stranded about 200 yards from shore which is not bad but threw in a great white shark that is attacking her, and we got ourselves a shark survival movie.
It all started when Nancy decides to go for one last surf after her, and a few people were on the shore, and the people called it a day. Nancy’s last wave quickly turned into a nightmare as a shark knocked her from her board and took a bite of her leg. Luckily, she is a med school student and has learned how to treat herself. Nancy (Blake Lively - Gossip Girl (2007-2012), The Age of Adaline (2015), Green Lantern (2011), The Town (2010)) is stranded about 200 years out from a secluded beach shore and is on a rock bleeding. Nancy’s only safe haven is a small cove that not many people knows about, making it nearly impossible to get help and she does not have much time left. Nancy did not intend to go on this journey by herself, but her friend had a hangover and could not go with her. Nancy left medical school to go on a trip to find a Mexican Beach that has significance to her mother who recently died of cancer. Nancy’s mother surfed on the Mexican beach when she was pregnant with Nancy.
The Shallows was solidly crafted leading it to stay away from the tired shark stories we have seen multiple times and gave us nasty thrills with a brilliant, powerful performance from Blake Lively resulting in an immensely entertaining movie. There was not much going on in the film, but the sense of dread and not knowing what will happen to the main character was enough to keep me from straying away from the screen. The music and sound were misguided and easily forgettable which could be because the director chose to cut the sound for a few seconds before almost every shark attack. It was not just the silence of sound/music before every shark attack that was the worst mistake this director made. There was tension, silliness, no backstory to some characters and a girl fighting to save her life. The Shallows is a movie worth seeing but not in the theaters.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- The Shallows Rating Scores
- Our Score: 6/10
- Overall Score: 6.46/10
- IMDB: 6.3/10
- MetaCritic: 5.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 7.9/10
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