OPEN WATER (2003)

The oceans that surround our planet is naturally magnificent and mysterious as there are many secrets below the wet surface.  The natural beauty and mystery of the oceans attract several thousand tourists each year, and each year many disappear into the dark depth of the deep-sea.  The oceans are vast and enormously powerful as they blindly exist with all the creatures below, above, or in-between it's surface.  The sea does not take lives, it merely exists, as human beings are simply a hopelessly insignificant piece of the food chain in the big blue.  Open Water depicts one of these true stories as a tourist's boat brings a small group of divers out to the Magical Reef somewhere in the Caribbean, and forgets about a married couple.

Daniel (Daniel Travis) and Susan (Blanchard Ryan) live in a comfortable house from which they often administer their hectic jobs with cell phones and laptops.  Susan even brings her laptop with her on vacation as she cannot completely let go of her job.  However, they finally arrive to the tropical paradise of the Caribbean where they can enjoy a peace of the beach while sipping on cocktails.  While vacationing they experience small hassles such as waking up in the middle of the night to bugs that bother them and to an all too familiar sound, the alarm clock, which reminds them about their scuba diving trip.

The weather is beautiful, and the divers are all excited about getting into the blue to gaze at living creatures of various kinds.  Daniel and Susan drift off by themselves knowing that they have until 10:30 am to watch fish, small sharks, and other exotic sea creatures.  When the couple resurfaces they notice that the boat is not where it is suppose to be, as they can see some other boats at a distance.  They wait and wait, until the truth slowly begins to settle in their panic stricken minds.  Initially it leads to a common quarrel, but it ebbs away as they slowly begin to loose hope of ever seeing land again.

Open Water holds the audience by the head and whenever the viewer has received enough air to breath the visuals push the viewer down below the surface again to jog the memory of the horrors underneath.  The continuous dipping up and down never becomes tedious as the viewer will feel that air is a must while remaining unknowing of what is under the surface.  This unknowing manner in which Open Water approaches the audience stirs up fears and anxiety, which could very well be experienced by both the audience and the characters.

There are several moments when the film could cause an exhaustive experience as many shots are long, and without movement of the camera.  The long shots should be a reminder of what could be entering the minds of Susan and Daniel.  They also bring an authentic experience to the audience, which is enhanced by shooting the film with a digital camera.  The digital camera provides the same effect as a grainy film does when the director wants to depict the truth.  The graininess of the images could be compared to the Blair Witch Project (1999), which also wanted to generate an authentically haunting atmosphere.  In the end, the uneasiness of what could be beneath the surface is lingering within the mind of the audience, which will never leave as the mysteries of the ocean will continue to take life as it hopefully will teach the viewers a number of lessons.

DIRECTED BY

Chris Kentis

COUNTRY

USA
REVIEWED
12/28/2004
GRADE


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The Internet Movie Database.