2016 hit The Shallows showcased a gripping battle of wills between Blake Lively's Nancy and a great white shark, at least until the ending got silly. When it comes to horror movies showcasing killer sharks, it's always been Jaws, and then everything else. Steven Spielberg's classic is just so good that anything else is basically guaranteed to pale in comparison. But that doesn't mean there aren't other shark flicks worth watching, and 2016's The Shallows is definitely one of them.
The Shallows, much like many great horror films, sports a simple premise. Blake Lively stars as Nancy Adams, who heads out for a day of surfing and relaxation at a secluded beach in Mexico. Nancy's mother has just passed away after a battle with cancer, and this particular beach was an important one for her, as she had surfed there while pregnant with Nancy. Unfortunately, Nancy's decision to go surfing alone comes back to bite her, literally, after a hungry great white shark attacks and relentlessly tries to make a meal out of her.
For the majority of its running time, The Shallows is a thrilling tale of woman vs. shark, with Nancy using her wits to just barely survive multiple close encounters with the shark. That is until the last few minutes, when the movie suddenly shifts into action mode, making it really hard to suspend ones disbelief.
The Shallows Is a Great Shark Movie (Until the Ending Gets Silly)
As silly as The Shallows' ending gets, it's important to point out that these aspects don't entirely ruin the movie. The Shallows was a deserved success with both critics and audiences upon release, and remains a good watch today. The problem is that nothing in the film really felt impossible or even that improbable before the end, and what then happens feels like something switched in from a different, crazier movie. By the last few minutes, Nancy has managed to survive a few showdowns with the shark, but seems unlikely to escape for much longer. That is until she becomes a mix of Wonder Woman and John McClane.
First, as the rock she's on is soon to be submerged by high tide, Nancy somehow swims to a nearby buoy, only not being eaten due to having swam through a school of jellyfish that sting both her and the shark. While on the buoy, Nancy retrieves a flare gun, then shoots the shark, managing to light it on fire with help from the oil on a nearby whale carcass. This doesn't seem to faze the shark, who menaces her while on fire in a way that would make The Terminator blush. The shark goes to take down the buoy, ripping the chains that attach it to the ocean floor out, so Nancy really goes MacGyver, attaching herself to the last chain, being rapidly pulled down with the shark on her heels, then - in the most laughable thing of all - manages to outmaneuver the shark at the last minute, with it becoming impaled on some rebar.
As mentioned, the fact that the last few minutes dispenses with any semblance of realism doesn't sink The Shallows entirely, and it's indeed cathartic to see the highly likeable Nancy survive and escape with her life. But the entire sequence just doesn't gel with the rest of the film, and almost feels like writer Anthony Jaswinski scripted himself into a corner he wasn't sure how to get out of, choosing to solve the problem in the most bombastic way available. By the end of the film, Nancy is suffering from multiple injuries. It's hard to imagine a person outmaneuvering a great white shark while submerged when healthy, much less while badly hurt. It's a sad blemish on an otherwise great, thrilling movie.