‘47 Meters Down’ bites with thrills amid sharks
In “47 Meters Down,” two women find themselves trapped at the bottom of the ocean in a cage, surrounded by some hungry-looking sharks.
Essentially, that’s the whole movie. And while that sounds like it could be really tedious — yes, for most of the film’s running time, they are underwater — surprisingly, it actually works. It’s like discovering some straight-to-video horror cheapie that turns out to be pretty good. It’s taut and suspenseful, and there’s a jittery vibe to the whole thing.
Granted, it’s not a classic. As with a lot of horror movies, the setup could use some work. Here, you get siblings Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt) vacationing in Mexico. Buttoned-up Lisa is rebounding from a breakup be-
cause her boyfriend dumped her for being boring. A crazy vacation down south will show him, Lisa thinks.
Urged on by the more adventurous Kate, Lisa agrees to try shark diving with her sister. They are placed in a rickety-looking cage and lowered 16 feet into the ocean while chum is scattered in the water to attract the deadly fish. Perfectly safe, right? Of course, there’s the fact that Lisa has never dived before. And the boat looks older than both women combined. Still, photo opp!
Once they’re in the water, the crane holding the cage breaks, and the two plummet down into the ocean. They’re out of radio range. They will get the bends if they try to make a break for the surface. They’re running out of air. And, lest we forget, sharks are circling.
Director Johannes Roberts keeps things tight and tense after the women literally hit rock bottom. The 20-foot-sharks are big and scary, and the ocean has rarely looked more cavernous and frightening. Once Lisa and Kate are trapped, the film never darts above the surface to show what’s going on — everything is from their point of view — which adds to the overall unease and claustrophobia.
It’s the kind of movie designed to get you yelling at the characters on the screen. Like when Lisa ventures out of the cage then wonders, “Which direction did I come from?” Or when she decides to have a soul-baring conversation with her sister about their relationship — while they’re running out of oxygen!
Still, for fun low-budget scares and rattling shocks, this really does the trick. Roberts (“The Other Side of the Door”) is quite inventive here, stretching out the tension and creating a breathless atmosphere. That’s meant in a literal sense; as the women run out of oxygen, you find yourself holding your breath along with them.
Roberts, who wrote the script with Ernest Riera, includes a twist that manages to be both unexpected and poignant, adding some extra emotional resonance to the proceedings. It’s surprising and effective, like the rest of the film.