As Mark Kermode would have you believe, Jaws is a film not actually about the shark. I strongly disagree with him on that point, although it's about much more than just the shark, but it's an interesting view. Something In The Water, on the other hand, is very much a shark film that seems not to be about the shark. That works well, until the moments when it becomes about the shark.
The whole thing starts with Kayla (Natalie Mitson) and Meg (Hiftu Quasem) on a night out. They encounter a group of teens who start throwing homophobic slurs at them, and then they attack Meg so viciously that she ends up hospitalised. One year later, Meg heads to the West Indies for the wedding of her friend, Lizzie (Lauren Lyle). Also present are Cam (Nicole Rietsu Setsuko) and Ruth (Ellouise Shakespeare-Hart). And Kayla. The friends know that Meg and Kayla have things to work through, which is why they take a boat trip the day before the wedding, dropping the two off on a beach and forcing them to spend some time together, in the hope that they can properly reconcile, and maybe get back together. Then it's time for everyone to become aware of a shark in the water. They get back to the boat, but things don't go as planned, soon leaving them looking out for fins as they figure out how to get themselves back to the safety of land.
With two relative newcomers behind the camera, director Hayley Easton Street and writer Cat Clarke, although Street worked for a number of years in the field of VFX, Something In The Water is an enjoyably ambitious thriller that at least tries to blend some more relatable problems with the cinematic thrills of avoiding becoming shark food. It doesn't quite come together in a completely satisfying way, but that's due to those involved remembering that they need to show a shark every so often, and bring it to the fore in a third act that would most probably be improved by us not actually seeing any more than the suggestion of the hungry predator(s).
The cast are also far from the most experienced lot, although they prove more than capable of carrying themselves through the many character moments and conversations that prove to be more interesting than many of the shark sequences. Quasem and Mitson are excellent as two people unable to see a way to repair the massive sinkhole that now keeps them distant from one another, Lyle is the kind of placid central figure who just wants everyone to get along and keep the peace, and both Shakespeare-Hart and Setsuko have energy and strength that may help the entire group, or may cause them to be further demotivated if either of them get dragged away by the shark.
Something In The Water starts off strong, then it settles into something full of great potential as our leads meet up and start to have conversations that were avoided for far too long. It continues to impress when the shark first appears. Sadly, things start to go downhill from there. Everyone is on a countdown as you start to see who is most likely to be left until the end, the set-pieces have to be shot and edited in a way that covers up the many shortcomings, leaving them far from thrilling, and that final sequence is so bad that it feels as if it was lifted in from an entirely different movie.
I'll still give it plenty of goodwill for trying to be a bit different, but the negatives almost outweigh the positives.
5/10
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