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Open Water (M. 79mins) Directed by Chris Kentis ****
Overworked couple Daniel (Daniel Travis) and Susan (Blanchard Ryan) desperately need a holiday.
However, finding a gap in their respective schedules has proved to be somewhat problematic.
Hastily arranging a quick trip to a tropical isle, they plan on spending their days soaking up the sun, spending time together and making use of their diving certifications.
Joining a tour group, they head out to the Magic Kingdom dive site where they are promised the opportunity to encounter tropical fish and stingrays, and, if they’re lucky, they might even see a shark.
Unfortunately, Daniel’s propensity to spend as much time as possible underwater – and the guide’s inability to count – means our couple find themselves left behind and closer to the local aquatic life than they ever imagined.
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Filmed with a skeleton crew on weekends and holidays, Open Water only cost $US130,000 to make and raked in more than 200 times that in America alone.
Just when we thought there were enough reasons to fear water, up popped this fiendish little marine-based thriller in 2003. Inspired by similar events in Australia in 1998, director Kentis’ film is a triumph of understatement. Filmed with a skeleton crew on weekends and holidays, Open Water only cost $US130,000 to make and raked in more than 200 times that in America alone.
Although comparisons to both The Blair Witch Project and Jaws are obvious, Open Water is in fact the complete opposite of Spielberg’s 1970s popcorn-classic. There’s no iconic theme to warn you, no histrionic splashing to alarm you and most importantly, no rubber shark to laugh at (real Caribbean Reef Sharks were used).
Instead, you just get a queasy sense that danger could be lurking at any moment (although that feeling could also be a result of Kentis’ constantly bobbing hand-held digital-video camera).
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Daniel (Daniel Travis) and Susan (Blanchard Ryan) find themselves in a tricky situation in Open Water.
Action fans will likely be disappointed with the film’s slow-burn approach, with the couple’s emotions and conversation topics hardly compensation for the lack of a body count – or special effects.
For others though, the emphasis on the characters and what they do in the situation they find themselves in will strike a chord far stronger than most lumpen Hollywood horrors inflicted upon us in the two decades since Open Water’s original release.
Open Water is now available to stream on Netflix.
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