The Shallows Review

I suppose I’ll start with what’s already been so astutely observed by pretty much every review I’ve read: 1) Blake Lively is in a bikini, and 2) There is a seagull in this movie that should be in the running for best supporting actor. Aside from that, this is a solid b-movie survival thriller with a committed central performance and nice visuals, and though it doesn’t break any new ground, it’s not a bad entry to the survival genre. Even in its short running time, it does get a bit repetitive at times, but it’s nevertheless most effective when it focuses on Lively’s character figuring out how to survive. When it attempts to shoehorn in a backstory about a dead mother and uncertainty about medical school, though–as well as some arguable symbolism–it gets tiresome. To put it in a semi-clever way that makes me proud of myself, it reaches for something too deep when it really should just remain in the shallows.

GRADE: B-

Photo credit: The Shallows, Columbia Pictures

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