Open Water 2003

     This film is inspired by a true story about an American couple in 1998.  The couple is on a holiday in the Caribbean and they decide to spend the day on an ocean diving trip.  A complication is that it could be a very wrong decision?  There is a miss-count of the number of people on the boat and Susan and Daniel are left behind in the middle of the ocean.  The boat is long gone and nowhere to be seen??  All their hopes are based that boat coming back soon to rescue them.  They try to stay safe but sharks start to appear.  There is nothing sharks like better than meat without any thick skin or fur!!
     This movie is not for children!!  Its has been referred to as a modern day Jaws but it is not!!  In reality, this is not a shark movie at all and they are just background characters.  This is a low-budget, heavy on dialogue indie film about the complex relationship between a married couple.  It will be a bore for teens expecting a fast-moving horror film with high-tech special effects and plenty of gore.  There are scenes of intense peril, shark attacks with blood.  The extreme danger to the characters is worse than any of the violence!!  There is also a lot of strong language and this is not surprising since the couple are in very difficult circumstances!!  The ending may also shock and case some viewers to be upset.  4* (I liked this movie) 

79 min, Adventure directed and written by Chris Kentis with Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Michael E. Williamson, Cristain Zenato, John Charles, Estelle Lau.

Note:  Imdb 5.7 out of 10 with 49,158 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 71% critic with 195 critics, 33% audience with 55,865 ratings, Roger Ebert 3 1/2*, Common Sense Media Beth Pratt age 18+, 5* violence, 5* sex, 5* language, Letterboxd 2.7* out of 5*, Metacritic 63 out of 100 with 38 critics  (25 posotive, 11 mixed 2 negative) 5.5* out 10 (43 positive, 11 mixed, 23 negative).

Special Note:  The sharks in this film are Caribbean Reef Sharks.  The cast wore chain mesh under their diving suits for protection.  They were not bitten by the sharks but Blanchard Ryan was nipped by a barracuda on the first day of filming.  The line in the film is, “It was probably a barracuda seeing what you taste like?”  Blanchard Ryan is deeply afraid of sharks and Daniel Travis had to enter the shark infested waters first each day to assure her that they were not a danger.  A school of jellyfish showed up on the day the crew planned to film a scene with jellyfish.  Unusually, no jellyfish ever appeared on location for the entire duration except for the day of this shoot.  Blanchard and Daniel spent over 120 hours in the water over the course of the production.  The film was financed by director Chris Kentis and his wife, producer Laura Lau.  They are both avid divers.  The film cost $130,000 to make and later was bought by Lion’s Gate for $2.5 million after screening at Sundance.