“Open Water” (2004) has among the fewest shark special effects – probably little more than false fins – of any shark movie. Yet a case could be made that it’s the scariest. Writer, director and editor Chris Kentis puts together a masterpiece of big-emotion filmmaking with moments of artful tragedy.
Low body count
Because it’s so visceral, “Open Water” is sometimes not listed among the great shark films when the lister is thinking of the “fun” type of horror. Also giving some folks pause about deriving entertainment from this story is the fact that it’s true. Well, at least as much as it can be.
Five years before the film was made, a couple was left behind after a dive trip and were never found. After they are left at sea, Kentis imagines the rest.
“Open Water” (2004)
Director: Chris Kentis
Writer: Chris Kentis
Stars: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein
On Tuesdays this summer, Reviews from My Couch is highlighting classic (and not so classic) shark horror films through the years.
Even the setup is harrowing. “Open Water” is shot on video, which gives it a cheap feeling only briefly. That soon morphs into a realistic vibe, as we subconsciously think of vacation videos (although this is not a found-footage movie).
As for the narrative, we see how a simple counting mistake can cost people their lives: Twenty divers enter the water at the start, and 20 come out at the end. But the counter doesn’t account for a new diver and a repeat diver midway through the session.
I think any exploitative aspect to “Open Water” is balanced out by its nature as a warning to future dive trips: Check people off by name, not by raw numbers.
A couple of go-getters
As they must do, longtime character actors Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis carry “Open Water” as Susan and Daniel Watkins, a couple of go-getters who realize they need a vacation.
They plan the vacation almost as meticulously as their work lives. There’s no chance they’d leave a mask behind, as happens to the one diver whose mistake leads in butterfly-effect fashion to the head-count error.
A lot of Ryan’s and Travis’ acting is close-up and emotional. Both have expressive faces and voices. Indeed, a nighttime rainstorm scene is basically voice-acted.
Kentis’ editing is masterful. He sometimes cuts back to vacationers’ activities on shore. This contrasts with the Watkinses’ predicament and shows the negative side of the lax attitude in paradise.
It also gives us – unlike the couple — a breather from the low-grade terror. And it’s done artfully: There’s no sound atop the revelry.
Revell-ing in the tone
“Open Water” gives us other small breaks with skyline shots and somber music. Composer Graeme Revell sets a tone that gradually becomes fatalistic rather than intense like in “Jaws.” Although things get intense in the final act, the divers’ last moments are played in an unexpected way.
As simple as the film is, you need not fear that “Open Water” is boring. It’s only 79 minutes long, the husband and wife are realistic and mostly likable, and the little dramas along the way are compelling. (So many boats are almost within reach. But they only serve to remind us how huge the ocean is.)
Kentis allows us to say we watched an art film without having to put in “homework.” Yet you might be taking “Open Water” home with you.
There’s an increasingly resigned sense of tragedy as the events unfold. This might haunt you more than the most extreme kills in other shark films.