Mar Aberto

Uses a minimalist budget, a vast outdoor setting, a very small cast, and a narrative that meticulously builds a pervasive sense of dread without giving too much away

I guess I'm simply dense because I failed to understand why previous critics raved about this boring,boring movie and how some of them were so scared and distraught that brain numbness overwhelmed them. This fragmented ,tiresome story was just plain silly --Imagine a crew member who can't count to twenty and the feeble overused gimmick of contrasting the couples' plight with all the bustle and liveliness of natives in an outdoor shopping mall. Cut to the luckless couple , heads just bobbing along for over an hour in a monotonous sea. Exciting,no! Throw in the mandatory shark attack and your fright knows no bounds. I have this uneasy feeling that because of all the overworked hype, people feel compelled to rave about it, lest they admit (like me) to having been taken in. Simply, just an insipid travesty. Don't waste your money!

Hyper-busy couple, Susan (Blanchard Ryan) and Daniel (Daniel Kintner) finally take a break from their hectic lives to go on a scuba-diving holiday. At first, all is well. Then, their charter boat leaves without them, leaving the pair stranded in the middle of the ocean!

Small, bothersome marine life soon give way to schools of hungry sharks.

OPEN WATER, like the somewhat similar movie LONG WEEKEND, is about a bickering couple at the mercy of nature. The shark footage is very effective, while the vastness of the ocean adds a definite sense of desolation and probable doom.

This is a solid, low-budget thriller...

As I walked out of the theater today, I felt so small and fragile, not to mention I couldn't pronounce a word because I was still very impressed by what I had just seen. This is a film that sets a great example of what movie making should be today. First because it was done without special effects or computers, second because it was very nicely done in terms of lighting, camera, acting and directing and third because it made me feel exactly what the characters were feeling the whole time. I was on my car and still I was left without words. As I drove, I was complaining about how somebody's negligence can have such consequences in other people's lives and reflecting on how arrogant and cocky we get even when we are completely out of our domain, thinking we know better. I am very fund of sharks and I love to see them on film, on TV and as close as an aquarium that has them can let you see them. I just finished reading a book about the USS Indianapolis and believe me there are terrifying stories for you to imagine about survivor's experiences with the sharks, but for the very first time someone made me feel like I was really among them myself and also someone made me feel very scared of them. I was changing positions over and over on my seat during the movie because I was really feeling uneasy and frightened at times. So come and see Open Water and let this movie remind you how fragile life is and how human we are. Live the experience of helplessness, terror and impotence towards what you cant see or solve as if you were really there and your life depended on it. Congratulations to the whole crew.

If this was a high budget A-film it would have sharks 10 meters long, the guy would wrestle one of them with a knife and the woman would show off huge boobs all the time. Instead there are no theatrically exaggerated shark attack scenes, but totally believable, down to earth dialogs and things we would expect to happen in this situation. The ending also unexpected and non-hollywoodical. Worth watching.