Get ready for a strongly opinionated summary of this movie mostly built on memory because I actually saw it about 8 months ago. Time flies when you’re not writing reviews as often as you should be. So here is the 47 Meters Down Movie Review.
So the movie starts out pretty much like any other shark attack-related movie does: Some light character development so you might actually start to have an emotional response when a character’s face is bitten off. Spoiler alert! Two sisters travel to Mexico, one is very nervous and hesitant to do anything and the other has a death wish. The latter eventually convinces her sister to take the plunge and go swimming with sharks, as per Mexican tradition. That’s when things start to get hairy…fishy…mammally?
So the girls lie about their qualifications in order to be locked into a cage that is submerged in shark infested waters. Things are going great right up until the point the cable on the cage snaps and the girls plummet into the depths of the ocean. This happens almost instantly. The girls are trapped at the bottom of the ocean, about 47 Meters Down, give or take, and are running low on oxygen.
They are worried about hallucinations due to the lack of oxygen and decide they should take their chances with hungry predators instead. That proves to be a mistake as sharks can smell both Fear and poor decision making. Some more things happen over the course of 45 minutes or so and eventually things look like they’re going to be a-ok for the ladies. Or lady. I don’t want to give anything away.
Crazy plot twist part 1: The girls are together and are trying to ascend to the surface using will power and flares. The girls are ascending at a leisurely pace and lighting flares along the way to assert themselves as the alpha. Sharks, being sharks, disagree with the use of flares and attempted dominance so they surround the girls. The scene is epic. Epic!
Crazy plot twist part 2: The first part never really happens. It’s just a hallucination. There were no sharks, there was no sister. Okay, half of that is true. Sort of. It’s hard to write without openly giving it away but I think I pretty much just did.
Bottom line: A lot of mixed reviews on this one. Personally, I really liked it. It was much better than The Reef or the generic shark movie of your choice. I’m actually afraid to see the Netflix previews now when I’m scrolling through because of one or two scenes that could be involved in that 10-second mini synopsis. I have a Fear of Sharks, okay? Don’t hate.
