“Something in the Water” is horror’s answer to the movie that fills me with nostalgia as I would lose myself in the horror section of a local video store and attempt to find distributions for movies I have never seen before all for the sake of some late night fun. Whether this is for better or for worse, “Something in the Water” has the feel of one of those weekend films that teenage me checked out from the local shop to binge-watch.
Credit for this near identical reproduction comes from first feature director Hayley Easton Street who takes control of a project, which is in effect a copy of another shark horror. These types of films are fairly straightforward our protagonists head out to sea and get stranded in the company of man-eating sharks. The case is [what’s the case?] for “Something in the Water.” To give her fairness, Street at least attempts to add some side storyline. But the relations that the characters have are very shallow and rather the characters are very poorly constructed making it impossible for us to have anything to hold on to.
The action moves to the Caribbean where five friends come to a luxurious beachside resort for a destination wedding. Hiftu Quasem’s character Meg comes in and joins Lizzie’s friends Lizzie (Lauren Lyle), the energetic Cam (Nicole Rieko Setsuko), sensible Ruth (Ellouise Shakespeare Hart), and her ex- lover Kayla (Natalie Mitson) to celebrate with Lizzie. The film tries to give them each their own personality but they all feel very average and nothing stands out. The only serious dramatic element is provided by Meg and Kayla whose silence has not been broken for the last year since a tragic incident brought them great pain and separated them.
As evening comes, Cam hires an old rust-bucket boat and sails with the women to an island which is far from the mainland. The plan was to have a good time and relax on a beach but it goes wrong after a giant shark bites a piece out of Ruth’s leg while she is in the water. Not able to control the bleeding, the girls put their friend into the boat. But due to their hastily move back to the coast, the boat runs into a reef piercing the center of the boat. And like that five of the friends are in the midst of the sea. And as its not surprising, a shark makes its entrance quite early in the story.
The situation makes for a rather scary picture and Street manages to squeeze out some good tension at least in the beginning. But in the course of its development the movie fails to maintain any genuine fright or suspense. And it starts running out of steam quickly, even though it lasts less than a 90 minutes time. There are a few nice character moments that achieve the emotions they are going for. But apart from that the film limps towards an unneeded, ridiculous finish which it would have gladly avoided.
“Something in the Water” is a well directed first feature for Street who copes well with the bare bones of a story and limited budget. The location is well shot and the acting is decent. But the story (Cat Clarke) does not have the elements of melodrama or tension or the self awareness that would turn it into any of the number of films it could. It’s reasonably interesting but succumbs to its naпve characters, quite a standard plot, and a dearth of drive to take it to the finishing line.
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