A 2017 survival-horror film that takes place entirely underwater is streaming on BBC iPlayer and it may leave you gasping for air.
47 Meters Down is the story of two sisters–portrayed to perfection by Mandy Moore and Claire Holt, who are on holiday in Mexico and have been convinced by some locals to go on a thrilling shark dive. They find themselves plummeting to the bottom of the ocean floor during their cage dive.
With dwindling air supplies and the looming threat of blood-thirsty great white sharks in dangerous proximity, the sisters must find a way to escape the cage and make it out alive. Every precious breath, every calculated movement, and every glorious drop of blood counts.
Directed by Johannes Roberts, this holiday-gone-wrong thriller suffers from the inevitable fate of being compared to the all-time-classic of oceanic perfection: Jaws. While some may say that Jaws is too far out of 47 Meters Down’s reach, others felt the movie was “innovative” and “surprising” with a brilliant “twist ending”.
Johannes’ film went on to become a ‘summer smash hit’, grossing $62.6 million worldwide against a budget of around $5 million – making it a textbook Hollywood success. So much so that a sequel to the shark-attack thriller was commissioned and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged was born.
An impressed Reddit reviewer called 47 Meters Down “a tense and claustrophobic thriller that is far greater than the sum of its parts”, commenting:” A PG-13 rating CG shark horror that revolves around some annoying tourists? Rated only 50%~ on Rotten Tomatoes and mid 5’s on IMDB? Sounds sh*t right? Never watched it until recently and I have to say, I was extremely pleasantly surprised. If you haven’t seen it, I would recommend giving it a go. Honestly it’s pretty nonstop white knuckle, butt clenching thrills. Would recommend.”
Commenting on the film’s cinematography, another Redditor said: “I personally really liked the movie from a cinematography standpoint,” while one reviewer felt the movie “definitely deserves more credit than it seems to get.”
The film has a 53 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and some viewers feel it is justified: “I think the ratings reflect the quality of the movie pretty accurately. It’s an interesting premise but mostly boring and contrived. The ‘light a flare to illuminate a bunch of sharks about to eat you’ bit was like the one cool visual moment, absurd as it was. Honestly, while the sequel was just as dumb, it was at least scary, with big blind sharks stalking teens through a tunnel system.”
But another reviewer agreed with the film’s dismal rating and commented: “What a goddamn nightmare of acting though. There’s a reason for the 50%”
Some viewers felt the movie failed in its execution, with one stating: “47 Meters Down has an intriguing premise, but its execution falls short in terms of direction. The tension wasn’t sufficiently sharp to keep me on the edge of my seat, and while the cast is competent, their performances are somewhat underwhelming. The movie itself also suffers from a touch of corniness. Grading: C-”
Another viewer felt people were being unnecessarily harsh on the film and said: “I am not sure why this movie has such poor reviews. I enjoy realistic horror/thrillers. Sure, I may not know much about scuba diving, but I feel that the movie did accurately portray the dangers of not doing research, going off with strangers, and hypoxia – which is one of the biggest concerns in diving. This movie really had me on edge. I think they did a great job and it’s one of my favorites.”
47 Meters Down is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.