Underwater

 

If I hadn't seen the review for Underwater (2020) by Deusdeacon on Youtube, I would probably have never even heard of this film. Based on his video I decided to sit down and give it a shot. I'm glad I did.

Underwater is a sci-fi horror movie set in an underwater drilling rig in the Mariana Trench, the deepest know part of the ocean. There may well be deeper places, but if so we haven't discovered them yet. At its deepest part, the trench is 11,034 meters (~7miles) deep. The pressure at that depth is an incredible 8 tons psi, or the same as having the weight of 50 jumbo jets pressing in on you from all sides at once. Only the most perfectly designed vessels can even go near without being crushed to a small ball.

These facts makes the movie a lot scarier than most space movies. In many ways this could well have been set in space and there are similarities with Alien (1979). However the pressure of the water is so much more dangerous than space and space is dangerous. You can survive temporary exposure to space, but you can't survive even a moment ten kilometers under the ocean. It is just as isolating but much scarier.

Alright, so the film is set in 2050 with the rig drilling at these terrifying depths. The movie stars Kristen Stewart as Norah, our main character. Other actors include Vincent Cassel, Mamoudou Athie, T.J. Miller, John Gallagher Jr. and Jessica Henwick. Underwater is directed by William Eubank who is fairly new but very promising.

Before going any further, let me talk about Kristen Stewart for a moment. I am so glad I saw her in this movie, because the only other thing I've seen her in was the first Twilight movie. Yes, I've seen the first Twilight. No, I don't like it. Anyway, I didn't get the sense that Kristen was a very good actor based on Twilight, much the same way I didn't get the feeling that Natalie Portman was very good based on the Star Wars prequels. Now I can say that Kristen Stewart is a good actor, like I can with Portman.

In a nutshell, people deep deep underwater, things go wrong, lots of danger, cool effects. Good movie. If you want to remain completely spoiler free, skip past the spoiler zone.

SPOILER ZONE

First off, the movie opens with a bang. No long intro setting up the characters, just straight in to it. The great thing is, it works! We don't know the characters but we don't need to. We don't need to know what they are like under normal circumstances, the movie isn't about normal. Instead we learn about them as we go along, and it is amazing. Every director who wants to make a disaster movie or something similar should absolutely watch this film.

The effects are really nice. A good mix between CGI and practical and you really feel like they are deep in the ocean. My immersion was never broken and that's good enough.

The characters are fine. This isn't about reinventing the wheel, but I liked them, and I cared about them, which is the point. Underwater gets bonus points for having characters that actually help each other, that really do their best and not the typical trope characters. You know, the macho jock bully type, the smart nerd, the hot but useless girl and so on. Sure the characters embody some elements of the typical tropes, but they feel more like real people than Hollywood cutouts.

Of course the water pressure isn't the only danger the characters have to face. I'm not going into deep spoiler territory, but it gets very bad. Very Bad. Note the capital V and B. Fans of a particular horror writer may be pleasantly surprised. Enough said.

SPOILER ZONE ENDS

Underwater is a different take on a scenario we've seen before, usually set in space. It avoids most stereotypical tropes while keeping the tension nice and high. Many of the shots are gorgeous and many are dark and chaotic, but for once I don't hate the dark scenes. After all, they are nine kilometers deeper than sunlight can penetrate even a little. The dark is justified.

To conclude, I'm really glad I watched Underwater. It is not a masterpiece but it doesn't have to be. I recommend it to fans of sci-fi action and horror in general.

That's that and all that. Please join me again next time, and until then have a safe and great week!