Director: Renny Harlin
Screenplay: Pete Bridges, Shayne Armstrong, S.P. Krause, Damien Power
Based on a story by: Shayne Armstrong, S.P. Krause
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, Angus Sampson, Lucy Barrett, Nashi
Country: USA, China, Finland
Running Time: 106 min
Year: 2026
BBFC Certificate: 15
A routine flight from LA to Shanghai goes awry when an unruly passenger’s improperly stowed faulty laptop charger starts a fire in the hold. After the plane crashes into several pieces in the sea, the survivors must find one another and signal for help, but a bunch of frenzied sharks have other ideas.
Look, I’ve reviewed a bunch of shark movies for Blueprint: Review, mainly because I enjoy them and I host a shark movie podcast. That podcast centres around the love my co-host and I share for Deep Blue Sea, and believe it or not I’ve made attempts to tone down my DBS comparisons in the other reviews I’ve written. Deep Water is, of course, directed by Renny Harlin, who helmed that aforementioned genetically-modified shark-infested masterpiece, so if you’re expecting this review to be devoid of references to it, then frankly you’re going to be more disappointed than Dr. Jim Whitlock’s juggling instructor about halfway through that movie.
Deep Water is far better than most of the shark (or other aquatic creature) attack movies I’ve covered here. The characters are well drawn and go through proper arcs with emotional beats and excellent performances from a great cast. What really sets it apart is the plane crash sequence. Harlin has a knack for drawing out death scenes across his films (check out Mindhunters for some really gnarly kills), and this disaster sequence is stellar. So much of it is shown, from so many different perspectives, and it’s captivating throughout. There’s about a solid minute of just hitting the water, and I loved every second of it. Deep Water is worth watching for this alone, especially if you enjoy people being conked on the head by wine bottles!
In the cast, Angus Sampson is the clear MVP as the most problematic of the passengers. It’s a lot of fun watching him being just unbearable, because you know the worse he is, the higher the likelihood that’s he’s going to receive a particularly gruesome comeuppance, and he learns dearly that whilst it may be OK to smoke during the height of a stressful situation, it might be best to quit after that apex.
Where this film falls down a little is in the actual shark action, and this is where the Deep Blue Sea comparison is most evident. In DBS the sharks are full, featured characters, the driving force behind the plot and, arguably, the biggest victims of the story, helped hugely by Walt Conti’s incredibly mechanical shark creations. In Deep Water they’re just kind of there, and even then mostly off screen. There’s plenty of sharks in the water, it’s just very rare for any of them to make it into the frame, thereby ensuring the death sequences are muted and lacking in diversity. There’s maybe a few too many characters, and also a lot of talk about swells and currents that don’t really pay off in any meaningful way, just clumsy plot dynamics that weren’t ironed out of the script.
You should absolutely see Deep Water, especially if you’re a fan of shark movies and/or Renny Harlin films. Am I happy this currently has a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes? Absolutely! Am I puzzled as to how Deep Blue Sea only has a 60% (And a 40% audience score at that)? I sure am!
Deep Water is available in the UK on digital download from 20th July 2026 through Signature Entertainment. and will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 27th July.