DAY ONE - 47 Meters Down #31daysofhorror
DAY ONE OF 31 DAYS OF HORROR
47 Meters Down - 2017
“Trust me, once you’re down there, you’re not gonna wanna come back up.”
Released in 2017, 47 Meters Down was directed and written by Johannes Roberts. It stars Mandy Moore and Claire Holt who play sisters Lisa and Kate. The two are on a vacation to Mexico and Lisa has recently been broken up with by her boyfriend. Lisa struggles with the idea that she’s boring, and that’s why Stuart left her. Kate encourages her to come out of her shell and see that she’s actually pretty awesome. The two party the night away, meeting two locals who convince them to go cage diving with sharks cause they know a guy. Which is absolutely what you should always do while vacationing. Super safe.
Cut to Kate and Lisa going on a boat and being put into a cage and lowered into the water. The winch holding the cage snaps and the girls plummet to the bottom of the sea floor. Trapped inside the cage, with limited air tanks, the two girls must figure out a way to survive before help arrives.
First off, let your logic go for this movie. I spent the first half of the film questioning everything and realized it was ruining the experience. Look, it’s not going to be accurate. It’s a horror movie about diving and sharks. Sharks can’t smell blood from up to a mile away, it’s only a quarter of a mile away. And I’m pretty sure they would give up after the first attempt at chomping at the cage. And all that air supply stuff seemed pretty questioniable. So drop your logic and enjoy this film for what it is – an intense thrill ride at the bottom of the ocean.
Let’s talk about intense – there are some incredible scenes in this movie that had me biting my fingers in suspense. One particular scene where Lisa is swimming over a cliff drop under water in complete darkness will give you major anxiety, and when the girls are trying to switch oxygen tanks you’ll be screaming in anticipation, and one scene where there’s a “5 minute decompression” will have you sweating with fear. It’s really well done all across the board.
Acting wise – Mandy Moore pulled this off really well. Both actors did really, considering almost the entire movie they’re acting under water with masks on. The paranoia feels real and the relationship between the sisters is very natural.
On the scare side there’s a few good set ups for jump scares. There’s one particular scene SPOILER WARNING where the girls are escaping to the surface and they have to spend 5 minutes decompressing, they’re holding a torch which they drop, and Lisa immediately lights another and as she does the ocean around them lights up and you realize there’s three giant sharks about to attack. It was INCREDIBLE and I loved this scene so goddamn much. END OF SPOILER.
There’s an insane twist ending that I did not see coming and when it hits it punches you right in the stomach and you will feel sick. Incredibly well done.
Overall, 47 Meters Down absolutely has its’ flaws, but overall it’s a really effective ocean horror and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it! Pacing was spot on, I have no idea how they managed to film all this, and the sharks were really well done.
