Open Water Movie Review:


Sadly, the ad campaign for filmmaker Chris Kentis’ “Open Water” would give the impression that here is another “Jaws” clone to frighten audiences with monsters, razor teeth in rows and bloody shredded limbs. Freebie notepads sport missing shark-bite corners. On the History Channel or Discovery (mentioned, humorously, in the film), trailers for “Open Water” pop into re-creations of fatal shark attacks in Hawaii or of an underwater photographer lost at sea who, ten years later, revisits her Galapagos mishap.

Nothing could be further from the truth of this modest-budget work. Done in spare time with a crew of four (the director, producer-wife Laura Lau and her sister Estelle, plus a boat captain) and no special effects or computer-generated images, the result is not so scary as our anticipations nor, in the strict sense, a thriller. Here are deeper things in mind: the fragility of life, its closeness to death; the hurly-burly of techno-existence as against love and relationship; and individual man’s place in a Great Chain of Being at once beautiful, awesome and terrifying.

After burial alive, in coffins or caves, our greatest fear is probably water. Most would prefer to risk a desert, at least terra firma. “Based on true events” (like practically everything nowadays), this story grew out of dive-magazine reports of rare but documented incidents involving divers stranded in mid-ocean. Not wishing to particularize and intrude on any individual’s trauma or spa’s tourism, Kentis developed his script with no precise setting.

Because single-character movies are almost unthinkable -- even Tom Hanks needs a companion/confidant, if only Wilson the volleyball -- the straightforward plot involves suburban couple Susan (Blanchard Ryan) and Daniel (Daniel Travis), so multi-task obsessive they communicate by cell phone from driveway to house and can scarcely find time to plan, let alone take, a vacation breather. Rushed and off to the Islands, too mentally weary to make tropical love, the attractive, winning pair ups bright and early to join a 6:30 am party of twenty for an ocean scuba run. Neither the dive-master (Michael E. Williamson) nor his assistant (John Charles) and pilot (Cristina Zenarro) are developed, nor, beyond a brief pushy New Yorker, are the other eighteen so much as named or differentiated.

When a tally count is mishandled following the dive, the boat sails off without late returnees Daniel and Susan, who bob up to find themselves alone. Passing fishing or pleasure craft and a tanker seem near yet so proverbially far, the head view from the surface is limited by swells and wavelets, and they float in place, awaiting rescue. With the two, a third character is Nature, the creatures below -- for once not ooh! ah! overdone -- and a beautiful, indifferent sky and sea surface, the latter particularly well observed by the camera.

Slight but noticeable natural changes indicate time’s passing, so the (increasingly common) device of titles to set the clock is unnecessary, as the couple talk, bicker, are contrite and make up, reassure one another, grow closer. Nature calls, thirst and hunger intrude, the woman’s Dramamine wears off to nausea, sea life visits. Fright and panic arise to alternate with calm, while primal fear surges from the brainstem.

Desperately seeking publicity, some films ask that their endings not be told. A fig for them; but “Open Water” is so good that, beyond revealing that next morning the couple’s unclaimed gear is discovered, compliance will be observed in this case. See the film, not for special effects or jump-out-in-your-face scares, but for a sharply recorded and realized picture of what lurks beneath OUR surface.

Donald Levit

With the buzz circling this new low budget thriller about a couple stuck in the middle of the ocean with ample amount of sharks, it is crucial that moviegoers go into this film with an “open” mind, leaving their expectations at the door.

The perceived notions surrounding Open Water may skew the film into being another The Blair Witch Project, which was a huge blockbuster that cost nothing to make, but is now hailed as a rip-off when all learned of its economically twisted hoax. Now, The Blair Witch Project is the topic of tremendous parody, even though it was one of the best thrillers to come out in the late nineties.

It is a shame a film like The Blair Witch Project has been ridiculed down to what it is as a “hoax” film, when a film like The Village, which was a unbearable rip-off will just be remembered as M. Night Shymalan’s weakest vehicle. Let’s hope that audiences’ perceived notions do not sink Open Water.

There are moments in this film that will make your skin crawl, not by cheap scares, but profound psychological perceptions as to what will happen next. Water is probably one of the most fearful things to everyone and imagine being left out in the middle of the ocean somewhere with nothing in sight but blue water.

This is what happens to the film’s couple of Susan (Blanchard Ryan) and Daniel (Daniel Travis). The two are high-class workaholics that interact more with their cell phones than each other. Wanting to get away from their stressful lives and mend their relational woes, the two venture off to a undisclosed location that is reflective of the Caribbean or the Bahamas. On their second day of vacation, the two take a boat with a group of around twenty to go scuba diving. After taking to the ocean floor for about half an hour, the two are left behind by the boat due to a head count miscalculation.

Once surfacing things begin to squander with distant ships unnoticing them, nausea taking effect, jellyfish encounters, blame being shifted between the two, and of course drifting into shark infested waters. The last hour of the film has these two floating in the water experiencing things that no one should, even if you are as unlikable as Daniel and Susan are.

Along with the other three of his crew (including wife Laura Lau), writer/director Chris Kentis used high definition video to capture the realism of this thriller. Realism is the key word to Kentis’ work. There are no CGI or puppet sharks in this film; the sharks are 100% real. Ever since Spielberg scared the jeepers out of audiences with Jaws, there has been one lousy thriller after another about either sharks or characters out on water. Open Water is not Jaws, Kentis does not try to mirror what Spielberg did, he develops his own thrills. The typical shark fin arising from the water and then quickly pursuing its target is not in this film; Kentis is too smart for that. The sharks merely splash close by above the water and then submerge back into the ocean. The most chilling moments of the film are the unknowing, and the quiet scenes were Daniel and Susan are floating on their backs and you just see a glimpse of shark swim underneath them. The point of view shots and array of wide shots on the two actors are also crucial to the film’s mood and the establishing mind set. Kentis also delivers a vivid sequence with the characters during a rough storm, where he illuminates only what he wants you to see.

Outside of all of the strengths of Open Water, there are still weaknesses with the film. One should still take into account the low budget of the film, and the concept of having actors out in the water with real sharks. Would any Hollywood star be crazy or courageous enough to do that? Nonetheless, the script for the film is really stiff and the actors are not that great. Blanchard Ryan is gorgeous, but decent in her role as Susan. Daniel Travis screams aggressively, but is at times wooden. The chemistry between the actors is murky and both reflect nothing likeable about them, which is troubling when you are trying to route for these two to be rescued. Many men will for sure like that Ryan has a pointless and absurd nude scene early in the film.

Kentis’s script has a lot of hollering and finger pointing between these two workaholics, which is tiring. A film like this does not really need a potent script. However, though the film is based on true events of a Louisiana couple that got left behind scuba diving in Australia, the way Kentis plays out the scenario of a miscount is borderline corny. It just seems that the way that Daniel and Susan are left behind could have been tighter and more believable.

Open Water is a tense thriller that proves with profound filmmaking skills and the courage of taking risks, a low budget film can unease an audience. By the use of realism and the questioning of what will happen next, Kentis pecks at your nerves and keeps you filled with anticipation. Hopefully, this film will be a success and not be degraded in the footsteps of The Blair Witch Project.

Grade: B

Bailey Henderson

After finally getting away from their hectic work schedules, Susan (Ryan) and Daniel (Travis) plan to enjoy their tropical vacation. When the couple sign up for a cheap but cheerful scuba excursion to a popular reef, they surface from their dive to find that the boat has left without them. Fifteen miles from shore, alone and with no way of contacting anyone, Susan and Daniel’s have to hope that the boat realises their error or someone spots them. As the drift in the currents, a storm begins to build and the sharks start to circle.

Filmed on a micro-budget with digital cameras in shark-invested waters, can writer/director Chris Kentis instil a primal fear that will make everyone cower in fright? Yes and No.

Anyone who is inspired to make a movie with a shoe-sting budget but an awful lot of passion deserves praise and Open Water is very praiseworthy. For two thirds of the movie Kentis succeeds in creating a pair of characters that you start to care about. He takes his time introducing them, their relationship and the problems in their everyday lives before they set out to sea. Then for the first half hour he creates real tension as the realisation of the situation sets in and the first shark appears. After this the momentum drops dramatically however.

Taking into account the limitations of finance, you can give the movie the benefit of the doubt when it comes to creating many action or set sequences but the constant threat of the surrounding sharks soon starts to become abit weary and the storm sequence doesn’t really have the impact it could have had. It is the ending that really lets the movie down however. The emphasis of that this is based on true events is shattered an ending that fails to live up to expectations and feels like a really big let down. After nearly seventy minutes of quite terrifying realism, the finale leaves you feeling extremely disappointed.

The performances are very good however. Little known actors Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis make a big splash with two breakout roles that are bound to get them noticed. Both of them create two characters that are very natural and in turn very realistic. The two react as you’d expect average ordinary people to react to this extreme situation. There are no superhuman efforts to save the day, no unnecessary sacrifices and no elongated speeches that it would take five writers to come up with. These are normal people reacting to a life-threatening situation. Of the two, Blanchard Ryan probably shows the most potential as she makes the career driven Susan the most believeable of the pair.

As a piece of creative cinema, Open Water deserves applause for the sheer inventiveness and devotion by everyone involved. However good the film is in its early stages, you still have a very hard time forgiving the ending. While some my find it shocking or even inventive, it does degrade the realism of the whole of movie.

Star Rating = * *

Jamie Kelwick

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