Underwater

Kristen Stewart with her deadpan expression is completely out of her depth here as an actress, though the film itself is better than you’d expect from the behind-the-scenes rumors that made the rounds before it premiered. The cinematography is solid and properly gritty – to the point where you tell yourself: hey, this is what it might actually look like after a disaster ten kilometers below the sea. Unfortunately, this level of veracity means that when the protagonists leave the base for the open sea, it’s hard to make anything out in the dark waters; the chaotic editing doesn’t help. The Lovecraftian scares at the end didn’t do it for me either. (03/04/2020)

William Eubank has made an homage to 80's underwater horror but it's nothing more than B-movie entertainment. The film is nicely shot, the monsters are awesome and it moves along very quickly, which are major pluses, but it bothered me that it shuffles its feet in places a lot of times and the climax didn't really engage at all – many times I didn't even notice who died and how, as the film was mostly in the dark and that bothered me quite a bit. The suspense and atmosphere didn't really work for me, and the monsters are only shown at the end, which didn't please me much either. With a more interesting filmmaker this could have been a modern day Event Horizon, this way it's just a fine addition to the genre, but it soon fizzles out. 6.5/10. (18/02/2020)

A promising introduction. Although rather than a film, it resembles effective cinematics in a survival game that I would like to play, but it does fulfill its purpose. I am quite susceptible to underwater anxiety, so as long as something is going on, I'll enjoy a very flimsy expedition and a high amount of deliberately raw filming. But then… uh-oh. The alternative tagline should read: there is nothing to see under the water, which I would have preferred if it hadn't been accompanied by stupid and terribly confusing editing. It prevents a person from enjoying the underwater terror, because here and there, it is not clear where you are who you are actually watching. In addition, the characters are such dull, forgettable reflections. The perpetrator of terror has about five different forms and it is not entirely clear where the creators are trying to take us - to alternative underwater biology, or full-blown sci-fi horror? The conclusion rushes with the answer in the form of Lovecraft kohlrabi and I have to laugh. Mixing so many good things into such a dull goulash truly requires giant blenders. Unfortunately for Underwater, the film is full of them. It doesn't even work as a fun one-time watch. It’s about as much fun as snorkeling in a pond. Regarding B-movie flooding, I will continue to prescribe the beautiful Verne misstep, which has Balls. (11/01/2020)

The best thing about Underwater is Kristen Stewart, and that’s not an exaggeration. The unusual image suited her speech very well. And the pop song in the closing credits is confirmation that the main intention was to draw in her fans. Atmospherically, the film works quite well and the way it dynamically draws the viewer into the plot is outstanding, but it gradually runs out of gas and shuffling around on the place is supposed to unleash the mediocre monsters. The motif of the environmental threat of drilling into the ocean floor isn’t exactly innovative and there is nothing here to make it anything special, so it just remains a worn-out cliché. (23/01/2020)

This 1980s premise in a modern audiovisual conception is not bad, and it’s actually helped by the casting of Kristen Stewart, who might not be Ripley, but she doesn’t look half bad with a boyish haircut and in underwear. Another good thing is the absence of exposition and the breakneck pace that promises what is probably the most honest horror since Event Horizon, this time, though, in an attractive and nonetheless atmospheric submarine setting. But then there are things that are not downright horrible, but due to the darkness itself and the wild editing, you can barely see what’s happening in about 60% of the scenes, and the most action-packed passage is followed by a lull that irreparably pushes all the tension below the level of the excellent beginning. What is funny at times, too, is the total disregard of otherwise clearly defined physical laws, but that is something I can forgive as part of the premise. The monster is creepy, though a little too sci-fi (something terrifying could live at a depth of 11 km, but it should be more realistic) and the ending is fine. It’s ideal as something to watch with friends, but that’s all the praise I can give it. 65% (01/04/2020)