There seems to be a trend at the moment of bi-annual shark movies. Previously these films have usually featured perfectly tanned, shiny and beautiful Australians. Making poor choices and finding themselves becoming a smorgasbord for our finned friends. In 2024 Europe has decided to get in on the action. With France's aptly named Under Paris taking an environmental look at the catacombs and their potential inhabitants, and British movie No Way Up literally giving us ‘sharks on a plane'.
2024 had another tooth in its jaw, though, with a third shark movie—and not one that went directly to streaming. Something In The Water was shown in cinemas, and now it's available on Blu-ray and DVD.
Something In The Water doesn't attempt the pseudo-scientific plot leaps of Under Paris, instead shipping its mostly British cast to a desert island for a location wedding. A year after couple Meg (Hiftu Quasem) and Kayla (Natalie Mitson) separate in the aftermath of a brutal homophobic attack, they find themselves confronted by their mutual friends. Lizzie's (Lauren Lyle) wedding provides the meet-cute for a final trip as single women. And along with Ruth (Ellouise Shakespeare-Hart) and Cam (Nicole Rieko Setsuko) they take a small boat to a remote empty island with the hope of reconnecting.
The friends paddle in waist-deep water, when Ruth is suddenly knocked sideways. She claims to be “fine” as the water blooms red around her. Ruth is quickly pulled from the water, loaded back into the boat and they attempt to rush back to civilisation to save her life.
There's stuff to like in Something In The Water. Our protagonists are a varied bunch, and one of them even knows something about sharks. You'd be hard-pushed in most friendship groups for there not to be at least one person who has binge-watched Shark Week and knows you're supposed to punch them in the nose. So that's nice. The dry British wit lends a casual, unscripted feel, encouraging or perhaps hoping for comparisons to The Descent, with its similar all-women cast recovering from a tragedy – though it never reaches the heights of that. Despite all in its favour it does fall into the trap of ending up being just another shark movie. There isn't anything here that – if you're someone who watches a lot of shark movies – hasn't been seen one or more times before. Throw in some ropey CGI and you end up in much the same place you started. Hoping that one day, we'll get the shark movie we've been waiting for.
Something In The Water is released on Blu-ray and DVD on the 9th of September
