Deep Water Review: Renny Harlin’s Shark-Infested Disaster Thriller

*Deep Water* (2026) follows an American passenger plane carrying a roster of minor movie stars that crashes into shark-infested waters. The narrative pits a mix of archetypal characters—e-sports teammates Li Wenhan and Zhao Simei, flight attendant Nashi, nerdy “nice guy” Richard Crouchley, and the obnoxious, cigarette-seeking US guy Angus Sampson—against a relentless marine predator. The story’s structure randomly eliminates both sympathetic and antagonistic figures, leaving only one couple to survive.

The Guardian

The film is directed by Renny Harlin, known for action-heavy titles such as *Cliffhanger* and *The Long Kiss Goodnight*. After a high-profile setback with *Cutthroat Island*, Harlin’s reputation suffered a “spectacular fall from grace.” The review notes that despite this past, Harlin delivers a competent disaster piece, leveraging his experience with the 1999 shark film *Deep Blue Sea* to stage convincing fake-shark sequences.

The Guardian

Veteran actors Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley portray the doomed pilots, their survival odds “conforming to the cinematic laws of the jungle.” Supporting roles include Angus Sampson as the slovenly, self-destructive male lead, and a diverse ensemble of younger talent. The film deliberately encourages viewers to root for certain pairings while maintaining an “existential roulette” that spares no one based on moral standing.

The Guardian

The reviewer praises the film’s homage to classic disaster tropes, citing the poster’s visual nod to *Jaws* and the deliberate use of “grey fins” and backlit shark silhouettes that keep the beasts “very bitey.” However, the dialogue is criticized for being “riddled with cliches,” a shortcoming attributed to the seven credited screenwriters. The large-scale plane crash set piece, involving “200 or so mangled extras,” is highlighted as a technical high point, while the overall tone balances sentimentality, suspense, and schadenfreude.

The Guardian

• “If done right, a disaster movie can scratch a cinematic itch like nothing else, serving up sentimentality, suspense and schadenfreude in tidy parcels of action.” — *The Guardian*

The Guardian

• “Deep Water, in which an American plane full of minor movie stars crashes in shark-infested waters, knows exactly what it’s doing even as it nods towards a number of predecessors.” — *The Guardian*

The Guardian

• “Director Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight) was once the biggest thing in movies but then suffered a spectacular fall from grace (courtesy of Cutthroat Island); he actually does a bang-up job here.” — *The Guardian*

The Guardian

• “The big plane crash is a doozy, one that starts with people getting sucked out of holes in the hull and ends with surging sea water and 200 or so mangled extras.” — *The Guardian*

The Guardian

• “Smartly, we never see too much of them, mostly they’re just grey fins poking menacingly out of the water or backlit silhouettes surging up from the depths, but they are definitely very bitey little beasts.” — *The Guardian*

The Guardian