The Reef

Really good acting! I enjoyed this movie. Some parts were predicted but it kept me interested the whole time. I like how it was based on a true story.

"Your more likely to die from a bee sting then get killed be a shark." After the boat that they are on gets damaged and is unable to move, five friends must decide to wait it out on the boat or swim to an island. When the decision is made they soon begin to regret their choice. First of all I will say that I did enjoy the movie. I have not yet seen the movie "Open Water", but after watching this I feel like I have. This movie is repetitive but keeps you watching. People swim, they see a shark...over and over. Like "Open Water" this is a true story, which helps in the enjoyment of this. There really isn't much more to say about this movie, not too much to it, but it is entertaining. Overall, I liked it, but if you have seen "Open Water" this may be too much of the same thing to fully enjoy it. I give it a B.

Would I watch again? - I don't think I will.

*Also try - Frozen & Open Water

The Reef (2010) is a movie directed by Andrew Traucki. It's a new generation shark movie, and probably the one that gets closest to being a horror movie. It's an Australian movie so the actor's accent might be a problem for non-native English speakers that aren't used to it, I recommend toggling the subtitles on if possible.

The movie starts off in medias res, with a group of friends heading to Indonesia with a sailboat. We find out eventually, that two of the protagonists had a relationship in the past, that functions as side story that isn't too relevant, especially towards the end. During the trip the sailboat hits the bottom of the reef and tips over, making it unable for the characters to proceed. They choose to swim to the nearest island, about 12 miles from the shore, but a great white shark that swims in the area won't make things easy for them.

As I am always kind of skeptic about new shark movies, I didn't have high hopes for this one either. But it turned out to be better than what I expected it to be. As I said, it has some jump scares and it's the most realistic shark movie I have seen. It is not based on a true story but it could have easily been. It's the only shark movie that made me think twice before jumping into deep waters again.

In my opinion, the acting was good, with a lot of screaming and macabre reactions, that really gave me the feeling that I was watching a real event and not a movie. It's nothing too extreme, but that's exactly how a horror shark movie should be, realistic.

I would recommend this movie, alongside with Steven Spielberg's Jaws, as the shark movies you need to watch as a shark fanatic. Solid plot, good cast and overall a more than average shark movie worth watching.

Andrew Traucki director of croc flick Black Water (2007)  hones his skills in this tense shark flick that makes Open Water look like Open season.

The story is simple, a boat becomes wrecked, and all but one of a group of five friends try to swim their way across the reef to a small island.

It's well filmed with no dodgy special effects in sight. The script is natural and is not forced or cheesy, the hand held camera work is effective and not a shaky mess. This is no low budget schlock. It's taught film making, wonderfully shot with some fantastic edge of the seat primal fear, courtesy of a real Great White Shark.

It's no Jaws, but as a basic survival film it works a treat. Shark lovers like myself will eat this up.

Alright, so this is never going to win any Oscars, yet it was very entertaining.

The character development was good, I actually cared for each person, which for me is a great indicator. If you can pull that off, it's got a bit of quality right there. Nothing felt fake or over/under done. The shark shots were real, no fake plastic models to be found! The movie was often pretty tense, i found myself literally on the edge of my couch. It was nice to hear the Aussie accents and it didn't feel "americanised" in any way. A great little movie with dedicated actors and a solid, scary story! Well done.