Peter Bradshaw 

47 Metres Down review – shark-cage thriller sinks to the bottom

This film labours unpretentiously in the shadow of Spielberg’s Jaws, before it is almost sunk by an outrageous final twist
  
  

47 Meters Down
The deep blue … 47 Meters Down, staring Mandy Moore and Claire Holt. Photograph: Studios/Kobal/Rex Shutterstock

This shark-attack thriller will always stay with me for one unprecedented event at the press screening I attended. The drama reaches its climax with an outrageous trick ending, and when the twist revealed itself, someone behind me shouted – and I mean literally shouted – two words, of which the second was “OFF”. I admired the clarity and force of his response, but on his reflection it was a little harsh about an unpretentious film whose destiny it is to toil in the shadow of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws.

Anyway: Mandy Moore and Claire Holt play Lisa and Kate, two super-hot sisters in bikinis who have gone on holiday to help Lisa get over a bad breakup. They are in Mexico, and have a go at lowering themselves in a cage to get up close and personal with sharks. (Mexico is cheerfully portrayed as a dodgy place where safety precautions are neither here nor there.) Needless to say, things go wrong. They are always keening and whining at each other: “Ohmygod, we’re running out of air … stay with me, Kate … stay with me Lisa … ohmygod we’re running out of air.”

You might feel the same way.

 

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