Sci-Fi Horror Big Budget Blockbuster Flop Deserves Way More Fans

Underwater is a science fiction thriller that takes audiences deep under the Pacific Ocean in the year 2050. The crew of the Kepler 822 are miles under the surface, settled in the base of the Mariana Trench. When the ocean floor violently rumbles, the crew believes that they are witnessing an earthquake.

As they make their way to the escape pods, they find that all of them have been launched. Mechanical engineer Norah Price (Kristen Stewart) and her two workers Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie) and Paul (T. J. Miller) are stunned to find the Captain (Vincent Cassel) still there.

The remaining crew carefully work their way through the wrecked underwater facility and are able to reach the control base, where they find the team’s biologist Emily Haversham (Jessica Henwick) and Liam Smith (John Gallagher, Jr.), the ship’s engineer. Emily and Liam have been trying in vain to contact someone on the surface.

With communication systems out, it’s decided that the best course of action is to climb into pressurized suits and traverse the ocean floor to another base.

After one crew member is killed from a defective suit, the remainder set off on the treacherous journey. After they see a distress signal from one of the escape pods, they move closer to investigate.

Underwater sees the surviving crew members make a chilling discovery. The earthquake opened up a fissure that released unknown creatures into the sea. These humanoids are as cunning as they are hostile.

But as the number of survivors begin to dwindle, the crew discovers that there are other horrors that await them in the depths of the ocean.

Underwater was a box office flop, only generating $40.9 million against a $65 million budget. The movie faced mixed reviews from critics, many praising the special effects and the performance by Stewart, but who also railed against the predictable film tropes the film exalted as an ocean thriller.

But just because Underwater themes and plotlines are closely aligned with many of the other sci-fi ocean films doesn’t mean that it isn’t praiseworthy. Underwater captures the claustrophobic horror in ways that only James Cameron was able to achieve with The Abyss but added great creature effects for additional layers of chills.

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Director William Eubank succeeded in transporting the viewer to uncomfortable places under the sea and using the paranoia, dread, and abject fear from the characters to give them a terrifying ride that’s worth the time.

While you cannot stream Underwater for free, the film is available to rent through AppleTV.