The Obsessive Viewer

Release Date: August 20th, 2004

Director: Chris Kentis

Writer: Chris Kentis

Stars: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein

This week’s Streaming Saturday is 2004’s indie shark movie Open Water. The movie tells the story of a couple on a much needed vacation that goes horribly wrong. After being stranded by their snorkel group, the couple find themselves adrift in the titular, shark infested open water waiting for rescue.

I wasn’t going to post this movie as a Streaming Saturday recommendation but I figured with Shocktober starting in just a couple of days, this wouldn’t be too bad of a choice to transition the blog into the Shocktober spirit.

The movie is only 79 minutes long, so I’ll keep this brief. Open Water achieves what it sets out to without breaking any barriers or swinging for any fences. That’s probably what’s best for the movie as a whole, though. The build up to the couple getting stranded is hands down the best part of the movie for me. I felt very anxious and nervous about what I knew was going to happen. I think it was a mix between the actors’ chemistry and the minimalistic character building. We know they’re an overworked couple needing a break and that’s all we need.

Once they are stranded, the movie becomes a little dull. The suspense of the sharks in the water is played pretty well, but the bickering between the two characters took me out of the movie. By the end I felt like the movie could have cut maybe 15 minutes, which isn’t something that should ever be said about a movie just shy of an 80 minute runtime. Still, given that it was a particularly short film, I wouldn’t say my time was wasted. And thus, it becomes a Streaming Saturday recommendation.