“Deep Water”, a summer horror film that’s a bit past its sell-by date

Sharks, as we know, are often associated with horror films released during the hottest months of the year, and this summer is no exception: ‘Deep Water – Nightmare from the Depths”, by Renny Harlin, a Finnish director who has specialised in action films for several decades now.

During the 1990s, Harlin had directed films that were hugely popular with fans of the genre, such as “58 Minutes to Die – Die Harder’ and ‘Cliffhanger’, and it is precisely to the cinema of that decade that he seems to be returning with this latest film, which, incidentally, bears a strong resemblance to his 1999 film, ‘Deep Blue Sea’.

At the heart of the plot of *Deep Water* lies the dramatic ordeal of a group of passengers on board an intercontinental flight: during the journey, a serious malfunction forces the plane to make an emergency landing in the middle of the ocean, turning the flight into a terrifying nightmare with no way out. The crash occurs in waters infested with terrifying, hungry sharks, and the survivors – of different nationalities and ages – find themselves trapped amongst the wreckage of the slowly sinking aircraft, isolated and far from any chance of rescue. Panic spreads rapidly, tension mounts, and survival becomes a battle against time and fear.

To save themselves, the group will have to overcome personal conflicts and cultural barriers, learning to work together under extreme conditions: this is perhaps the main sociological insight offered by a film that explores the importance of teamwork – albeit in an undeniably superficial manner – and how solidarity is the only possible course of action for survival.

For fans of shark films, there’s certainly no shortage of tension and it’s reasonably entertaining overall, but the script is far too predictable and the nostalgia factor only works to a limited extent.