FAQ

Five friends—Matt (Damian Walshe-Howling), Matt's sister Kate (Zoe Naylor), Matt's girlfriend Suzie (Adrienne Pickering), Kate's ex-boyfriend Luke (Damian Walshe-Howling), and Luke's friend Warren (Kieran Darcy-Smith)—head for Indonesia in a sailboat. When the boat hits an underwater reef and capsizes, Warren prefers to stay with the boat, while Luke, Matt, Suzie, and Kate decide to swim for nearby Turtle Island, only to find that they're being stalked by a great white shark.

The Reef is based on a script/screenplay written by James M. Vernon and Andrew Traucki (who also produced and directed the film). The screenplay was loosely inspired by the 1983 true story of the crew of a prawn trawler that capsized off the Great Barrier Reef near Townsville, Australia, forcing the three survivors to swim for Broadhurst Reef while being followed by a hungry tiger shark.

After bandaging the cut on Kate's foot, Luke and Kate make a final attempt to swim to the small rocky outcropping they have found. About half way there, they realize that the shark is again following them. The swim as quickly as possible, and Luke helps Kate out of the water by pushing her up from behind. She then asks Kate to pull him up, but it is too late. The shark grabs on to him and pulls him under. Kate screams Luke's name several times, but he does not resurface. A postscript then appears explaining: Kate was rescued the next day by a fishing boat and rushed to the hospital. Despite an extensive search, no remains of Warren or the yacht were ever found.