Deep Water Parent Guide

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Wow, I really need a movie that combines Cast Away with Jaws, but somehow ends up much worse”? No? Me neither, but here we are.

Avoiding the reality of his son’s medical problems, former Air Force officer Ben (Aaron Eckhart) now works as a First Officer on a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai. Midway through the journey, a fire breaks out, rapidly compromising the aircraft. With no other option, the pilot, Rich (Ben Kinglsey), is forced to attempt an emergency landing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

A nearby reef turns the landing into a violent, chaotic crash, killing most of the passengers on board. Those who survive soon realize they are stranded in shark-infested waters, and that living through the crash was only the beginning of their fight for survival.

I’m honestly not sure how to fully articulate my thoughts on this movie, so I’ll start with the first thing I said when I walked out of the theatre: “That was the absolute worst movie I’ve ever seen, and I loved it.”

Deep Water is the epitome of cheesy cinema. Its complete disregard for reality in favor of whatever the plot demands is almost admirable. There were several moments where I thought, “Ohhh, this is intentionally bad,” only to be proven wrong by the film’s clear expectation that the audience should feel emotionally invested in the characters, whom we’ve had absolutely no reason to get attached to yet. Now, listen—I can get emotionally attached to just about anything. (I actually did cry during the plane crash and thought that, despite the cheesiness, the movie might pull through in that “it’s ridiculous, but I still end up caring” kind of way.) However, after the first shark attack, I genuinely couldn’t stop laughing. As someone who grew up in Australia, I know a fair bit about sharks and hate the misconceptions about them. That said, I’m usually pretty forgiving of shark movies as they’re practically their own genre, built on the idea that sharks are inherently terrifying villains. This film, however, was so absurd that I found myself caught somewhere between disbelief and amusement. At that point, I couldn’t even be mad about the shark-related inaccuracies.

My thoughts on this film are all over the place, which feels fitting given how chaotic it is. I’m still not entirely sure whether the flick was supposed to be good, though it seems like it was aiming for that familiar mix of heartfelt and cheesy. Instead, it lands squarely in “unintentionally hilarious.” Still, it’s one of the most ridiculous movies I’ve seen in a long time, and I’ll probably watch it again purely for the entertainment value.

If you love cheesy cinema, disorganized plotlines, and an impressive amount of obviously fake gore, this is absolutely the movie for you. Just don’t take the kids: the excessively gory shark attacks will make it impossible to ever get them in the water again.

About author

Alisha Bagshaw

Alisha Bagshaw is completing her BCST in Child and Youth Care Counselling and is working toward a career in psychology and policy advocacy. She enjoys reading, watching movies, and subjecting her husband and friends to in-depth (and usually unsolicited) synopses and thematic analysis.