A gut-clutching plunge into primal-fear territory that is no less unsettling for having been made on a flipper and a prayer.
Open Water (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:187
Fresh:134
Rotten:53
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: A low budget thriller with some intense moments.
Runtime: 81 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Aug 6, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $30,500,882
Synopsis: Proving that the power of imagination is much more terrifying than what meets the eye, OPEN WATER is Chris Kentis's intensely realistic deep-sea drama, "based on true events." The film's leering... Proving that the power of imagination is much more terrifying than what meets the eye, OPEN WATER is Chris Kentis's intensely realistic deep-sea drama, "based on true events." The film's leering digital video camera allows viewers to float like shark-bait, stranded in the middle of the ocean with Susan and Daniel (Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis), a bickering married couple who have just been abandoned by their scuba-diving boat in the Caribbean. As the tension escalates between the troubled twosome--who are cold, tired, dehydrated, and more than a little scared--the tragedy of the situation is exacerbated by a series of very unfortunate conditions. While a current sweeps them far from where the boat left them, and deep dark clouds pass menacingly overhead, the sea-life just below the surface is clearly not of the friendly variety. Yes, those are real sharks, folks. Meanwhile, Daniel, who watched Shark Week on television, is no stranger to the perils at hand, and finds himself battling shock. Minutes pass like hours, with the light shifting on the water and the constant motion of the waves adding to this unfathomable nightmare. The shimmering blues of wide expanses of sea are offset by dazzling underwater photography, yet the mood remains bleak. And while no special effects, abrupt developments, or abrasive gore are present here, the film instills such fear that viewers will be frozen awaiting the surprising conclusion. A day at the beach will never be quite the same again. [More]
Starring: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Estelle Lau
Starring: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Estelle Lau, Michael E. Willimson, Christina Zenarro, Jon Charles
Director: Chris Kentis
Director: Chris Kentis
Producer: Laura Lau
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for Open Water
It's just them, the water and us -- at least until the sharks show up. By the time they do, we're feeling almost as apprehensive as Susan and Daniel are.
A taut, 79-minute fright fest peppered with enough payoffs and glossed with a mournful philosophic overlay.
Despite its low-budget, it's undoubtedly the most terrifying film of the summer!
Clearly, this one will divide viewers, but the vote here is that Open Water is an unpleasant experience.
An obvious successor to The Blair Witch Project that is neither as imaginative nor as existentially terrifying.
A fantastic gimmick - too bad nobody ever bothered to develop it into an actual, like, movie.
The filmmakers' remarkable storytelling is not lost amidst the terrors of the deep; what emerges is a glimpse into the psychological struggle when faced with unwinnable odds.
Rarely as gripping as it wants to be; for the most part it treads water just as its lead characters do.
Whether or not anyone enjoys it, few will fail to describe it as a 'nailbiter.' That it certainly is.
As a self-proclaimed shark-movie junkie, Open Water brilliantly taps into that ultimate fear of what lurks down below.
Simply a stunt -- hopelessly literal-minded and cheap in every sense.
Despite its flaws, I welcome Open Water with great enthusiasm, because it offers genuine scares and chills without the self-aware, packaged feel of many horror/thriller films.
... a compact little gem that proves that low-low-budget films don’t have to be always about couples squabbling in small rooms.
Writer/director Chris Kentis ekes genuine tension from little more than a pair of luckless yuppies and a relentless, unforgiving body of water.
A sharply recorded and realized picture of what lurks beneath 'our' surface.
When Susan wonders if it’s scarier seeing or not seeing the sharks around them, she may as well be talking to the audience.
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