Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the cinemas here comes Open Water to raise our fear of the shark to the same level Jaws did in the mid 70s. Based on true events, writer/director Chris Kentis gives us the story of Daniel and Susan (Daniel Travis and Blanchard Ryan), an over worked yuppie couple on an island holiday, set to scuba dive in shark infested waters. They board a crowded boat and are mistakenly abandoned in open water. What happens next is a fairly accurate portrayal of their psychological breakdown amidst the ever present and imagined danger.
Shot with digital cameras and a limited budget it manages to stay afloat and create real time documentary style tension. Without relying on CGI the actors were lowered into waters that contained real sharks, and this is the one aspect of the film that sets it apart. Open Water is a unique piece of film-making that rises above its exploitation motifs. It creates genuine suspense and lets the viewers imagination run free. Chris Kentis, an avid scuba diver, takes the camera to the water line to immerse the viewer into the action. It\'s a tightly scripted, primal fear inducing exercise that genuinely evokes our fears of the unknown.
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