Director William Eubank’s Underwater is a deep-sea creature feature starring Kristen Stewart, T.J. Miller, Jessica Henwick, and Vincent Cassel. Although the film hasn’t been a hit at the box office after releasing in just under 3,000 theaters on January 10th, there is no doubt Underwater deserves some love from fans of Lovecraft and horror/sci-fi.
Underwater is set in the Mariana Trench, which is the deepest trench in the world, located in the Pacific Ocean. As a corporation drills for resources, those living and working in the undersea stations within the Trench are abruptly sent into chaos as an earthquake rips the structures apart. That is only the beginning of the survivors’ problems as something ancient and hellish is released.
While my initial impression was a combination of Aquaman’s The Trench and Alien, and yes, there are some nods to the latter franchise, Underwater brings so much more to the table.
From the start, Underwater throws us directly into the fire and doesn’t worry about answering our questions of “why…who…how…” until it’s ready. The action is anxiety-inducing and even claustrophobic as we see survivors of the wreckage make their way to safety to gather their wits. The characters have obvious vulnerabilities about them, making them instantly relatable regardless of not knowing backstory or characters as the insanity ensues.
We see once again that Kristen Stewart is a superb actress, far removed from any outdated Twilight criticism still being thrown around. (It’s 2020, please stop referencing Twilight.) The film is well-cast, with T.J. Miller doing what he usually does best on screen- provide the comic relief. Unfortunately for the film’s cast and crew, despite a favorable performance, reservations and concerns regarding Miller’s real-life issues may have proved to be too much of a detractor for some viewers.
The massive scuba suits worn by the crew play a surprisingly major role in the film, adding to the feeling of panic and being trapped. It was refreshing to see a more realistic and practical design, instead of overused futuristic technology. Perhaps the actors’ challenges with the equipment came through on-screen, as they wore real 100 lbs. suits. Stewart said about the experience, “It was so scary and so horrific. It wasn’t fun scary. It was f–ed up scary.”
And, of course, there are the creatures themselves. The CGI gets a bit muddied up at times, but they work well to deliver the scares, with a particularly eerie moment towards the end. Speaking of the end, sci-fi fans are treated to fantastic geeking-out moment that I am glad I was able to witness on the big screen.
Overall, Underwater is a refreshing entry to Lovecraftian sci-fi cinema. Definitely don’t sleep on this one.
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