Open water - En eaux profondes

It really doesn't surprise me that some people don't like this film. After all to truly enjoy Open Water one must open their mind and think. In this day and age that hardly ever happens anymore. Most filmmakers just decide to blow things up and hope that it's enough to entertain their audiences. Society in general has become numb what with the plots just laid out in front of us never questioning or asking us to use our imaginations. Open Water is a film that asks its viewers to place themselves at the heart of the movie; to feel the desperation, the hopelessness and the absolute terrifying ordeal. And for a change the movie is shot in a way that allows the viewer to feel as if truly there. Is it Jaws? No and its not meant to be. Maybe that's where the confusion lays. Open Water is a suspenseful film, excellent at that. If you're someone who actually enjoys figuring out the movie for yourself instead of being told in the first five minutes this is the film for you. Score: A.

Open Water might be a bit too low budget for many audience members.

But this is a prime example of how budget should not hold back a brilliant concept.

This is as realistic as it comes, from the scene in the hotel room where the couple lounge around completely nude (like people do in real life!), to the anxiety and horror of being in the Open Water, alone.

This might very well be an underrated masterpiece that has spawned numerous awful sequels.

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.

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!