Susan and Daniel are a happily married couple hoping to have a memorable vacation in the Bahamas. Their relaxing vacation soon ends when they are left in the middle of the ocean by careless diving boat crew. As the reality of isolation sets in, they turn to one another for support. Unable to support each other, they begin to panic and are soon prompted to question their own fates as encircling sharks start to appear... [TRAILER]

STEVEN SNYDER'S REVIEW

“Open Water,” for all its deep oceans and vast horizons, is a closed world that becomes more confining and claustrophobic with every passing minute.

In a deceptive marketing campaign, comparing “Open Water” to the likes of both the shark movie “Jaws” and the fake documentary “The Blair Witch Project,” it has been billed as a thriller about being stranded at sea, defenseless in shark-infested waters.

But in reality this is a movie about the unimportance and insignificance of man and, surprisingly, the illogical nature of our existence. Accordingly, it is those who have arrived expecting a frivolous thriller who will be annoyed. While there are some genuine scares here, the climax is not a shock, but a complex deepening of the film’s issues and thoughts.

Editor, writer and director Chris Kentis makes his concept work because he keeps his movie fixated solely on Susan (Blanchard Ryan) and Daniel (Daniel Travis).

In the beginning he places his camera in the couple’s minivan, and chronicles their difficulty in getting away from their hectic, overwhelming lives. Later he looks up at them from the floor of a boat speeding out into the ocean, documenting their journey away from land, technology and the comforts they have come to take for granted.

But his most affecting decision is to film the second half of the story from only three angles. As Susan and Daniel surface from their diving expedition, they realize the boat is gone and that they are stranded, and Kentis captures their steady shift from disbelief to despair by putting his camera parallel to the surface of the water where waves occasionally splash up and obscure its view, by getting close-ups of their concerned conversations so we can witness their anxiety, and by looking down on his actors from a slightly elevated camera from ten feet away.

It is this last technique that drew me in. While some films would have seen the vast ocean as liberating, or would have shown these swimmers out in the open, Kentis sees their story as one of increasing tension and lessening power, and Susan and Daniel do not control the vision of the film – as so many movie characters do – but are confined by a world they can no longer control or affect.

The comparisons to “Jaws” may be appropriate, as Susan and Daniel become increasingly worried about what might be swimming beneath them. And, as they start to see fins nearby and feel animals brush against their legs, their fear is reminiscent of the hysteria that built throughout Steven Spielberg’s 1975 masterpiece.

It is the comparisons to “The Blair Witch Project” that I must take exception with. In “Blair Witch,” the catch was that the viewer was seeing a thriller from a first person perspective, our vision eventually merging with that of the characters. In “Open Water,” however, although it resembles a documentary and is more credible due to its lack of professional style, this is clearly a crafted story with a discernable story arc and message.

In fact, its messages may upset some. When it comes to thrillers, there are many who want a good fright and little else. But after the sharks move in and the sun has set, “Open Water” goes beyond a one-dimensional scare fest.

The movie’s climax proves my point. No longer about the predators beneath the water but the minds above, it is not a thrilling escape or attack that had me gasping in amazement, but a far more horrific moment in which these characters finally recognize and accept their unimportance.

With the horizon bearing down on them and their options disappearing, Susan’s final act is a stunning last stand against the Gods, proving that she and she alone will be the one to decide her fate.

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