The Shallows

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1:39

The Shallows

PG-13

2016

1h 27m

Mystery & Thriller

Adventure

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Popcornmeter

78%

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218 Reviews

59%

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25,000+ Ratings

Still reeling from the loss of her mother, medical student Nancy Adams (Blake Lively) travels to a secluded beach for some much-needed solace. Despite the danger of surfing alone, Nancy decides to soak up the sun and hit the waves. Suddenly, a great white shark attacks, forcing her to swim to a giant rock for safety. Left injured and stranded 200 yards from shore, the frightened young woman must fight for her life as the deadly predator circles her in its feeding ground.

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Critics Consensus

Lean and solidly crafted, The Shallows transcends tired shark-attack tropes with nasty thrills and a powerful performance from Blake Lively.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

12/05/2016

3/5

[A] reasonably entertaining, imprudently daft aquatic thriller.

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David Stratton

The Australian

08/19/2016

2.5/5

The realism of the early scenes -- leaving aside Nancy's unaccountable willingness to be stranded alone in a remote place -- is replaced by increasingly silly scenes that lead eventually to a nonsensical conclusion.

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David Sexton

London Evening Standard

08/14/2016

4/5

About half of what is now going on in all cinema is the product of technological advances in film-making and The Shallows makes much more intelligent use of them than the superheroes do.

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Guillermo Troncoso

Screen Realm

Aug 21

3.5/5

The Shallows stays afloat by keeping its premise fun, visceral and engaging.

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Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

Jul 28

3/5

The shock value action is just what you want in this kind of movie and the stings linger like a knife slowly continuing to twist inside a wound.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

08/25/2022

4/5

“The Shallows” wisely stays true to its central concept. Its hook could easily wear thin if it extended itself too far, but the compact 80 minute running time keeps the tension high and the story moving forward.

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VITALII H

@freakynickison Jun 12

I had high hopes at first. It looked very nice, I really liked the camera angles and it was well polished when it comes to directing. But the more I watched the more I started to realize that it’s going pretty much nowhere. Idk, something was missing. Maybe more characters, more depth, details, plot twists… It was very plain. Overall I would not recommend it, way too long for such a short story and poor writing.

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Graham M

@Greyzer Jun 2

Excellent movie, very exciting and very well made.

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Jaoo G

@Jaoogigliotti May 14

This is one of the best shark movies I’ve ever seen. I also thought Blake’s performance was incredible.

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gerald H

@RottenGary May 4

Das könnte ein richtig guter Film sein, wenn nicht dauernd Zeitlupe nebst pin-up Ästhetik bemüht würde. Die CGI Delphine sind schlecht. Das Hai-Ende ebenfalls.

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Dylan W

@RT61217082 Apr 24

The biggest problem with this movie is it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be realistic or fantasy. It started off impressively realistic and genuinely tense, but then took more and more poetic licence with the behaviour of the shark, the most glaring example being the shark repeatedly choosing to eat humans instead of a dead whale. Once I realised they were committing to the more creative tone to elevate the horror, I was actually OK with it, it was just the shift between the realistic and the creative that was so jarring. Other than that it was a pretty solid and interesting film, extremely well acted and genuinely tense/horrifying in a lot of parts. I can't really give it more than 2.5 stars because it was just so gimmicky in some parts that it made it hard to take seriously when it would have otherwise been edge of your seat viewing the whole time.

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Astrid H

@RT10795067 Apr 20

It's laughingly bad but entertaining non the less

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Jaume Collet-Serra

Director

Blake Lively

Nancy

Óscar Jaenada

Carlos

Brett Cullen

Dad

Sedona Legge

Chloe

Pablo Calva

Boy

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Synopsis

Still reeling from the loss of her mother, medical student Nancy Adams (Blake Lively) travels to a secluded beach for some much-needed solace. Despite the danger of surfing alone, Nancy decides to soak up the sun and hit the waves. Suddenly, a great white shark attacks, forcing her to swim to a giant rock for safety. Left injured and stranded 200 yards from shore, the frightened young woman must fight for her life as the deadly predator circles her in its feeding ground.

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Producer: Lynn Harris, Matti Leshem
Screenwriter: Anthony Jaswinski
Distributor: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co: Weimaraner Republic Pictures, Ombra Films
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language|Bloody Images|Intense Sequences of Peril)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 24, 2016, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 27, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $55.1M
Runtime: 1h 27m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)