47 Meters Down
1 hour 29 minutes | Action/Drama/Horror | 2017
Two sisters vacationing in Mexico are trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. With less than an hour of oxygen left and great white sharks circling nearby, they must fight to survive.
Review by William Marchese
WCM: I went into this title thinking it might be cheesy. It had the feel of those movies where some novel idea turns out to be a gimmick, which wears thin pretty fast. Don’t get me wrong, those movies are OK. Even if by the middle you wondering why you’re watching, and by the end you’re left saying: “That wasn’t too bad.”
This wasn’t totally the case with 47 Meters Down.
Does it have replay value? Eh. It’s good.
Yes, it had the gimmick, but the gimmick was entertaining. It falls in line with horror movies like Frozen (were the protagonists are stuck in a ski lift) and Open Water (where the protagonists are stuck at sea with nothing at all.) Throw in a little Anaconda and you’re golden.
47 Meters Down gave me a sense the protagonists could be saved, with enough doubt to keep me at the edge of my seat, er, phone. I must admit, there were times when I felt anxious. And that’s a good thing, no?
A couple jump scares happened, but what’s a horror flick without one or two?
At times the movie almost Jumped-the-Shark, no pun intended. This didn’t detract from the value, because the focus didn’t linger on those moments to let it ruin the movie.
The feeling of isolation came off well, where you felt no hope at some points. Plus, throwing together a couple of young girls having a good time in Mexico with two guys they just met tightened the tension just right. Hey! Lets go deep sea diving with strangers and sharks nonetheless. But, as said before, it doesn’t swerve too far off the point and the events are all fairly believable. Youngsters are crazy these days, no?
All in all, I feel this movie was decent, with a surprise ending that wasn’t a cheat. It was all doable.
Check this movie out if you have a chance.
You can watch on Netflix, Redbox, Google Play, iTunes and Amazon Video.
– WCM
About William Marchese
William works “the day job” in lower Manhattan, foraging free time to kick start his writing career. He has been published in Hindered Souls Anthology, Deadman’s Tome, Unnerving Magazine Issue 3 and Trickster’s Treats anthology. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association. You can follow him on Twitter here: @Wcmarchese
