Fear Below – Movie Review
First Reaction – Fear Below is a refreshingly unique spin on the shark attack movie.
Where to Watch
Fear Below is available on Digital Platforms 19 May and DVD 9 June. Distributed by Signature Entertainment.
Director: Matthew Holmes
Writer: Matthew Holmes, Gregory Moss (Screenplay)
Cast
- Hermione Corfield (Rust Creek)
- Jake Ryan (The Great Gatsby)
- Josh McConville (Elvis)
- Jacob Junior Nayinggul (High Ground)
- Arthur Angel (Red Dog)
Plot: A rag-tag team of divers attempting to salvage a sunken car from a river are thwarted by a highly aggressive bull shark.
Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Fear Below starts when gangster Dylan ‘Bull’ Maddock (Ryan) loses his shipment in a local river. He turns to Ernie (Angel) and his rag-tag team of divers, Clara (Corfield) and Jimmy (Nayinggul) to retrieve it.
When the team begins their dive, they discover a bull shark in the river. They need to find a solution, but Bull isn’t going to give up his stash that easily. His ruthless nature forces them to retrieve the goods even with the shark lurking in the waters.
Verdict on Fear Below
Recap
The movie follows a group of divers who need to help a gangster retrieve his lost loot. They must navigate a murky river containing a bull shark, which begins hunting them. However, the gangster won’t let them walk away without his loot.
Best Parts
An instant standout for the movie is the era in which it takes place. It uses the 1940s with different diving equipment and no technology to assist. This helps present different challenges to survive against the shark and collect the loot. The unique environment helps push the story forward and keeps you wanting to see more. It also doesn’t go heavy on gruesome shark attacks, relying more on the suspense and older diving equipment getting the main focus. The performances are great too, bringing to life the different series of 1940s characters.
Worst Parts
For the shark side of the movie, it is a standout change. However, the painful stereotypes toward a woman and a black character helping in the diving are awkward to watch.
Final Thoughts –Fear Below is a fantastic spin on the shark attack movie.
2 replies on “Fear Below (2025) Movie Review”
Hey – thanks for your awesome review of our film!!! I’m curious though about your remark in the Worst Parts section “..the painful stereotypes toward a woman and a black character helping in the diving are awkward to watch.” I certainly hope that you didn’t get the impression that our film was condoning that type of racism and sexism. We only wanted to address what the real attitudes were towards women and Indigenous people in 1946 Australia, who faced much discrimination when trying to enter the workforce. We wanted to show that despite such negative attitudes toward them, our heroes proved themselves and the villains who perpetuated that attitude meet their just fate! Cheers from Down Under, Matthew Holmes – Director and Co-Writer 🙂
Thank you for taking time to read the review. I get the story side of the attitudes for the era. I put it in there because people can get offended by the behaviour, rather than it being portrayed badly. So before a showing on Prime I would expect warnings of racial, sexist langauge/behaviours.
It was 100% not meant as it is bad display of use.