Director: Jo-Anne Brechin
Year: 2026
Country: Australia/USA/United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Nature-Run-Amok
Plot:
On the anniversary of a tragedy, a woman takes her friend on a special trip to a resort where they can swim with captive orcas, but when an accident strands them in the middle of a lagoon patrolled by a vicious killer whale, they must find a way to survive long enough to escape.
Review:
Overall, this was a likable if somewhat flawed genre effort. Among the better elements of this one come from the solid setups featured throughout here that provide the film with the opportunity to go into the different interactions present. Featuring the starting interaction at the diner that sets the tragedy in motion for her and her friend to want to go through the trip together on the anniversary a year later as a means of rekindling their relationship and move on, the different setups along the way that foreshadow the interactions with the whale later on, and the early parts of the trip out in the lagoon having fun together, this is handled rather well in terms of getting everything going here. This all leads to the realization that they're trapped inside with the whale once it strikes their boat and leaves them inside the enclosed space with limited supplies and few means of contacting help outside, setting everything off rather nicely.
That provides the proper setup for the whale to start getting involved in the action as it all comes together incredibly well. That first attack, where it capsizes their jetski and begins going after the group in the chaos of trying to get to safety, is a rather strong and shocking setpiece, as well as the later scenes where they try to use their surviving floatation devices or other kinds of objects brought on the trip to survive against the relentless creature. This makes the predatory whale feel quite realistic, using its size and cunning to trap them inside and continually herd them into traps to attack them as only the last minute means of luck or something else to help them survive, bringing about a fun back-and-forth battle between them as each side is shown to use cunning and smarts against the other. It makes the plight of the orca quite sympathetic, as well as allowing for a fine use of practical gore, all of which makes for a strong enough creature feature.
This one does have a few factors going against it that hold it down. One of the biggest and most egregious aspects of the film is the fact that its attempts at generating conflict between the friends are reliant on one of the most cliched setups around to try to generate heat between them. With the backstory they share and the different hints throughout detailing the rocky history they share, the revelations about her friends' involvement in the fateful accident that originally killed her boyfriend serve no purpose here, as it's just not necessary to reveal this information at that stage in the film. As well, the very fact it's brought up in the first place makes for a troublesome idea when so many other films have tried to use this concept as well, simply as a means of generating friction in a film that doesn't need it as they're both trying to survive against this marauding, killer creature coming after them, so the whole section is pointless to begin with.
The other issue here is the rather obvious and generally unappealing creature effects on display, from the expected to the more disappointing and unnecessary. While it should be expected that the killer whale would be animated in the manner it is, while taking into account the kind of action it's required to take to pull off what's going on, on top of the idea of keeping a live animal in proximity of real people, there's little reason why it should look as bad as it does here. The vague shape of the whale is kept the same, so it looks like a whale, but the details and its odd behavior create the impression of what it is quite easily, especially when it's used for such brief interactions that it never allows for real immersion into the story. This is much like the constant scenes focusing on the inability to get past the obvious set-based location of them on the rocky outcrop in the lagoon, which is rampant in the film, based on what type of film this is, making this a bit underwhelming for the most part.
Overview: ***/5
A solid if somewhat slightly flawed genre effort, there are some worthwhile features in this one that manage to help hold this one up over a series of flaws that manage to hold it down. Those with an appreciation for this style or approach will have a lot to like here, while those turned off by the drawbacks here will want to heed caution.
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