Available on VOD 01/24/2025
A group of tourists and scientists become hostages to pirates while out on the sea.
Written by Chad Law and Josh Ridgway and directed by Christian Sesma, Into the Deep is a fun action thriller with sharks which is all you really need to know going into it. As it is, a review needs more than just that, so let’s take a look. The writing here works well with few issues and some really good ideas, the team up of Law and Ridgway is a good one, showing that these two can take an idea, play with it, and turn it all into a decent film that is entertaining and fun to watch. The direction by Sesma feels like it goes well with his previous films so if you’ve liked his other work, this is likely up your alley. This trio has plenty of credits to their names and they make fun action films and thrillers and seem to understand what works and what doesn’t work on the screen.
The cast here is led by Scout Taylor-Compton who gives a more than decent performance here, in and out of the water. Her part isn’t easy by any mean and she makes it look real and raw, emotional and strong. She’s joining by a group of familiar faces, and a few less familiar, including Lorena Sarrio who is good here, Stuart Townsend who was a surprise for this viewer and always a welcome one, Jon Seda who does “bad guy” really well, Richard Dreyfuss who is fun to see but a bit of a letdown performance-wise, and Callum McGowan who does decent work here. Almost everyone here, basically besides Dreyfuss, spends their time on screen playing frazzled, stressed, and emotional characters, so they are purposefully all over the place and it works.
The cinematography here makes good use of the desolate ocean setting. The work by Niccolo De La Fere (and team) shows this setting beautifully and makes the ocean this terrifying place above and below the water line. The work in the water is clear and makes the most its setting just like the work on the boat. The editing by Eric Potter works well with these images and helps bring the story to life.
Into the Deep is an entertaining thriller with some truly tense scenes, giving characters moments to shine and giving the story just the right turns to keep the viewer involved. The sharks are seen and visible and a bit scary here, so kudos to the special effects team as well. Visually, this film is very well done.
Into the Deep is an entertaining and fun with some truly tense scenes and a few spooky moments (mileage will vary). The cast is fun to watch and gives good performances, the familiar faces definitely help attract the attention, but the performances are what keeps the viewer involved here. Overall, a solid thriller with good action scenes, and just enough shark action to call it a shark film.