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The Descent

Play trailer Poster for The Descent R 2006 1h 39m Horror Mystery & Thriller Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
87% Tomatometer 189 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
A year after a severe emotional trauma, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) goes to North Carolina to spend some time exploring caves with her friends; after descending underground, the women find strange cave paintings and evidence of an earlier expedition, then learn they are not alone: Underground predators inhabit the crevasses, and they have a taste for human flesh.
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The Descent

The Descent

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Critics Consensus

Deft direction and strong performances from its all-female cast guide The Descent, a riveting, claustrophobic horror film.

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Critics Reviews

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Alyx Vesey Bitch Media 01/07/2021
While I think we should question the authority of the ubiquitous male writer-director to shape horror productions, I think Marshall does a good job representing his female characters. Go to Full Review
Sarah Lilleyman TIME Magazine 10/15/2008
Marshall could very well be the Caravaggio of the B-movie. Go to Full Review
Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader 09/24/2007
This intermittently effective UK horror thriller carefully establishes the psychological relationships among the women, then squanders this calibrated and generally plausible setup with a series of crude, implausible, and scattershot horror effects. Go to Full Review
Marcelo Paredes Cinencuentro Feb 20
The Descent stands as a great horror film worth revisiting. It's a profoundly sensory work, the experience of which is significantly enhanced under optimal viewing conditions...[Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Sebastian Zavala Kahn Me gusta el cine Feb 17
4.5/5
An unbearably tense, constantly surprising and visually inventive experience, which concludes in a depressing but appropriate way (thankfully, here it's arriving with the original British ending). [Full review in Spanish]. Go to Full Review
Bryce Hanson Horror Movie Talk Sep 23
10/10
This is a fantastic horror movie that hits a lot of different beats of horror. It deals out claustrophobia, dread, jump scares, interpersonal drama, all while passing the Bechdel test. A rare accomplishment in any horror film. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Taylor Oct 12 The Descent scares from the first to last scene. Claustrophobic and nauseating in the best way. See more Shadow R @GeminiShadowRealm 11h The Descent is a horror flick that starts as a heavy emotional drama and devolves into a claustrophobic nightmare. After a tragic accident claims Sarah's family, her tight-knit group of adventurous friends gathers a year later for a spelunking trip to help her heal. The creatures look slimy and gross and are creepy, blind, humanoid creatures that hunt by sound and hoard piles of bones in the dark. While the action scenes and creature designs are top-tier, the real horror comes from the breakdown of the group itself. Paranoia and a devastating accidental betrayal tear the friends apart from the inside out, leading to a brutal, blood-soaked finale where survival instincts trump everything else. See more Daniel L @Hotchopeppa 23h Love it. Hands down the best supernatural, claustrophobic cave movie ever made. And one of my all time favourite horror / thrillers. See more Jack C @RT32999762 Jun 25 Pros: Jump scares made me jump. Visual effects were acceptable for the year it came out, as well as sound design. Cons: Initial character establishment was poor. Sarah's trauma and loss seemed insignificant to the rest of the movie. Some of the creatures on-screen lore was lazy and horror-hungry (and not in the good way). Some of the lighting effects were pretty bad (e.g. the green glow stick). Tension was created by the accident made by Juno however it was not carried out in a rich way. See more Mara alejandra T @RT74051937 Jun 9 es una película divertía, buenos sustos, trama bastante acertada, pero en mas de la mitad de la película las cosas se pusieron bastante aburridas, confusas, y que tiene un significado mas complicado que te cuesta entender, además de que me hubiera dado mas tension sin los mountros, sara peak See more Eric H. @ZombieLab Jun 4 One of the scariest and most claustrophobic fils I’ve seen. See more Read all reviews
The Descent

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The Descent

The Descent: Official Clip - Sudden Death The Descent: Official Clip - Sudden Death 2:02 The Descent: Official Clip - Words of Warning The Descent: Official Clip - Words of Warning 2:18 The Descent: Official Clip - The Creature Looks Human The Descent: Official Clip - The Creature Looks Human 2:46 The Descent: Official Clip - Blood Bath The Descent: Official Clip - Blood Bath 2:28 The Descent: Official Clip - Holly's Death The Descent: Official Clip - Holly's Death 2:10 The Descent: Official Clip - Fighting Back The Descent: Official Clip - Fighting Back 2:13 The Descent: Official Clip - A Rock and a Hard Place The Descent: Official Clip - A Rock and a Hard Place 2:15 The Descent: Official Clip - If We Stay Here, We'll Die The Descent: Official Clip - If We Stay Here, We'll Die 2:01 The Descent: Official Clip - Juno's Descent The Descent: Official Clip - Juno's Descent 2:13 The Descent: Official Clip - The Killing Floor The Descent: Official Clip - The Killing Floor 2:08 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis A year after a severe emotional trauma, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) goes to North Carolina to spend some time exploring caves with her friends; after descending underground, the women find strange cave paintings and evidence of an earlier expedition, then learn they are not alone: Underground predators inhabit the crevasses, and they have a taste for human flesh.
Director
Neil Marshall
Producer
Christian Colson
Screenwriter
Neil Marshall
Distributor
Lionsgate Films
Production Co
Celador Productions, Lionsgate Television
Rating
R (Strong Violence and Gore|Language)
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller, Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 4, 2006, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$26.0M
Runtime
1h 39m
Sound Mix
Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)