When it comes to shark movies, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 summer blockbuster classic Jaws is the undisputed best. The movie set a high bar for suspense with a brilliant, unseen threat amplified by John Williams’ iconic score. Numerous “when animals attack” movies have followed in the five decades since, but only a few have managed to match the highs of the definitive, groundbreaking shark thriller. Among them is a 2010s survival horror thriller that recently swam into Prime Video’s catalog, and it’s easily one of the best shark movies since Jaws.
That movie is The Shallows, director Jaume Collet-Serra’s 2016 thriller starring Blake Lively as a medical student surfing on a secluded Mexican beach who is left stranded on a small rock 200 yards from shore when she is attacked by a great white shark. Wounded and facing high tide, she must use her wit and resilience to survive. The movie started streaming on Prime Video on March 1st. The Shallows holds a “Certified Fresh” 79% critic score and ranks No. 5 on Rotten Tomatoes’ list of best shark movies, where Jaws ranks No. 1.
The Shallows Is One of the Best Shark Movies Since Jaws
It’s not a stretch to declare The Shallows a great predecessor to Jaws or even one of the best shark movies ever. The movie excels precisely because it emulates the “less is more” approach of Spielberg’s classic, favoring suspense and minimalism over the over-the-top, poor-CGI shark films of recent years. The movie acts as a contained survival thriller, focusing on the suspense of a single protagonist trapped in a contained location just 200 yards from shore. And similar to Jaws, the shark is rarely shown. The Shallows relies on calculated sightings of the shark circling and lurking beneath the surface to build the anticipation of attack and a palpable tension that is nearly unbearable.
Outside of being a highly effective, modern masterclass in suspense, The Shallows is a near-perfect one-person show. Lively anchors the tension of the film with a grounded performance and a realistic portrayal of panic, despair, and resourcefulness. When Lively does give up screen time for the threat lurking beneath the surface, the shark doesn’t pull the viewer out of the movie with a cartoony appearance. The movie has some pretty great CGI that effectively captures the realistic texture, scars, and weight of the shark in an appearance that is truly the closest a shark has looked to Jaws since the 1975 film.
What’s New on Prime Video?
The Shallows joined Prime Video as part of the streamer’s March lineup, a list of arrivals that included everything from the Stephen King classic Carrie to the complete main Shrek series. Prime is currently rolling out new titles for April, with the start of the month bringing hits like Dances with Wolves, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and Titanic.
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