Directed by:
Neasa HardimanScreenplay:
Neasa HardimanCinematography:
Ruairí O'BrienComposer:
Christoffer FranzénCast:
Hermione Corfield, Connie Nielsen, Dougray Scott, Olwen Fouéré, Jack Hickey, Ardalan Esmaili, Dag MalmbergVOD (5)
Plots(1)
For marine biology student Siobhan (Hermione Corfield), it was supposed to be a research excursion with a trawler crew fishing the West Irish seas. Out in the deep Atlantic, an unfathomable life form ensnares the boat and they become marooned with a mysterious parasite infecting their water supply. Soon the oozing force infiltrates the entire vessel and turns Siobhan's journey into a claustrophobic fight for survival. Can they stop the mysterious water borne parasite from spreading before it's too late? (Signature Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (2)
This movie is based on a very promising and tempting topic. Let's say it could have been Alien at sea, (one scene even quite obviously references Alien), but for me, nothing really works in this movie. Year after year, I think to myself that screenwriters have perhaps already seen enough to know how to write characters who act like humans and not like idiotic machines that can't react logically to each other. This movie, however, confirms the opposite. The cast of characters seems to be straight out of a horror parody. Although Neasa Hardiman obviously has certain imaginative visions, she relatively fails to build any real tension and sense of horror - everything happens with slow sad piano (can this create a horror atmosphere?), the thrill is missing and you certainly don't care about the main characters at all. After all, this is just another installment in the series of movies that rest on a large graveyard of promising unfulfilled themes.
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It’s true that in some scenes Sea Fever looks a bit underfunded, but only a fool could expect Hollywood special effects in a cheap European co-production. What’s worse is that the rookie director wasn’t even able to convincingly portray the escalating tension between the characters and to generate a modicum of cinematic tension from their unenviable situation. But the mystery of the depths of the ocean worked for me – I have a weak spot for the theme – and I give it a weak three. Anyway, I liked this year’s Underwater a lot more.
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