Underwater

We've all seen sci-fi and horror films throughout the decades, but then Hollywood decides to combine theses genres and after a metamorphosis, we get "Underwater". We've seen similar films with the same treatment--certain ones come to mind: "Alien" '79, Event Horizon" '97 and "Promethus" '12 to mention a few. So when viewing this film, it almost seemed like a homage to those other films or films of the like.

A crew of aquatic researchers including a captain (Vincent Cassel), Norah (Kristen Stewart), Paul (T.J. Miller), Emily (Jessica Henwick), Smith (John Gallagher Jr.) and Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie) work to get to safety after an apparent earthquake devastates their subterranean laboratory. But as they progress in escaping, the crew has much more than the ocean seabed to fear. 
This crew is in a subterranean lab which reaches 6.5 miles under the ocean surface to drill for different deposits we need on the surface, but this means going farther than anyone has ever reached. The 'earthquake' happens early in the morning and awakens Norah, and as she reaches Rodrigo, they must leave where they are only later to find others along the way, the captain included. Now the six of them must find a way to the section of the lab before even more hell breaks loose and they find themselves in a watery grave. 

Others to round out the cast are Gunner Wright as Lee and Amanda Troop. 

This was rivetingly directed by William Eubank ("Love" '11, "The Signal" '14). Certainly this filmmaker doesn't have a tremendous amount of experience in the director's chair, however he certainly gave his audience an extremely claustrophobic nail-biter that will give any filmgoer the feeling of being dragged through a knothole. I know I was squirming in my seat waiting for the next problem to arise. The cast emitted a truly realistic performance of those going through such an ordeal and that is a talented director at hand. It was effectively written by Brian Duffield ("Insurgent" '15, "Jane Got a Gun" '15, "The Babysitter" '17) plus TV and a short, and Adam Cozad (""Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" '14, "The Legend of Tarzan" '16), based on a story by Duffield. One thing I can respect about this screenplay is that it basically 'cuts to the chase'. Many other films seem to believe that the audience needs a ton of background of certain characters in order for said audience get the plot. This film actually allowed its audience to learn as much as was needed about the characters as the story unfolded to be as informative as it needed for us. This not only gets us involved in the plot quicker, but also adds to the suspense at hand, which is what this film is all about. Kudos to the writers for implementing this. Surely other films might need a certain degree of character development, but clearly not this. Was this script flawless? Certainly not. There were a couple of areas of disjointedness when it comes to the continuity where I had a difficulty of knowing where these characters were given the scene at hand, otherwise it was a very effective storyline. If these writers appeal to you, Duffield's "Spontaneous" is completed and his "Monster Problems" is in post-production. Also Cozad"s "Red Platoon" has been announced. And finally, the visual effects predominantly designed by MPC (Moving Picture Company) were seamless and truly enhanced the claustrophobic feel of this production. 

Certainly if any moviegoer saw and appreciated the likes of "Alien", they will revel with this. The selling slogan for Alien was "In space, no one can hear you scream". Take out the word 'space' and insert 'water', and that selling slogan could've been used for this film. 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                              Rated: PG-13                                            95mins.