Film Review — Underwater

Kristen Stewart’s sci-fi/action/horror sinks. ★★☆☆☆

What happens when you take Alien, The Poseidon Adventure and Deep Rising and throw it all in a blender with a splash of Lovecraft and Danny Boyle’s Sunshine?

Starring a dedicated Kristen Stewart — looking like a mashup of Ellen Ripley and Eminem — Underwater is what you get. An unoriginal sci-fi actioner sunk by poor execution, endless cliche, and T.J. Miller.

The film has moments of quality. The way it slowly builds dread is similar to the patience demonstrated by James Cameron’s Aliens. Some of its scares are legitimately effective, and the reveal of the threat in the final act elicits the correct “holy shit” response.

Everything else, however, is a letdown. The CG-soup sequences are mostly unwatchable. The characters are paper-thin, even by action movie standards. And any real tension is constantly undercut by the relentless quips of certified jackass Miller — a character who, much like the monsters, you wish the movie had just left buried.

Underwater
Genre: Horror/Science Fiction/Adventure/Action
Runtime: 104 mins
BBFC Rating: 15 for strong threat and bloody images

Where to watch: Stream on Disney+