‘We have a story we’re going to be telling for the rest of our lives…’
As a Film Studies teacher, I’m always looking for films that could inspire my students in their own short films. This could be through plot or performance, but primarily what I’m looking for is something that they can look at and think, ‘I can do that’. This might sound like a criticism, but it isn’t. Films like Slacker, Clerks and Kids paved the way for any kid with a camera to make their own movie. This tradition stretches right back to the days of French New Wave and Dogme 95, and while Open Water doesn’t fit snugly into any kind of movement like the aforementioned films do, it is still a shining example of how to make a competent film on a tiny budget…
Young couple Susan (Blanchard Ryan) and Daniel (Daniel Travis) find themselves in a sticky situation when they go scuba diving in the open waters but are accidentally left behind by their tour guide in shark infested waters.
From the mind of writer-director (and scuba diving enthusiast) Chris Kentis, Open Water was shot on a shoestring budget over a period of two and a half years with Kentis and the cast shooting on weekends and holidays. While the lack of financial backing is evident in the quality of the film (this has the look and the spirit of a found footage film without the conceit), the grainy footage doesn’t take away from the suspense or the heartbreak of the story playing out on screen. Despite the low budget, both Travis and particularly Ryan do a great job in allowing the viewer to suspend their disbelief and try to forget about the low quality of the digital film.
The other aspect that makes Open Water unique is that there are no effects in this movie – digital or physical. All the sharks that you see on screen (and jellyfish and barracuda) were really there in the water with the actors. Kentis spent half the budget employing a shark handler for a couple of days filming and it is in those moments that Open Water truly becomes something unique. Worth the admission fee alone.
The video quality will put some people off Open Water, but if you can put that to one side, there is a great shark movie here with a genuinely upsetting and unexpected ending.
Fin.