Horror Movie Review: 47 Meters Down (2017)

47 Meters Down is a 2017 survival horror film directed by Johannes Roberts, written by Roberts and Ernest Riera, and starring Claire Holt and Mandy Moore.

Sisters Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt) are on vacation in Mexico after Lisa’s boyfriend recently broke up with her. In an attempt to cheer her up, Kate takes her out drinking and dancing, where they meet two local men who invite them to go and watch sharks from a diving cage. Lisa hesitates, but Kate argues it would show Lisa’s ex-boyfriend that she isn’t boring and would make him regret breaking up with her.

When they arrive at the boat dock, Lisa is immediately wary of the boat and its owner, Captain Taylor. He asks if the sisters are experienced divers; Kate is certified but Lisa is new to diving, but they lie and say they are both experienced. The dive cage is old and rusty, and hangs from thin chains on an old crane, adding further to Lisa’s apprehensions. When they reach the diving spot, Captain Taylor baits the sharks and the locals dive first. Unbeknownst to everyone on the boat, the cable supporting the cage starts to fray.

After a few minutes, with Lisa and Kate in the cage, the cable breaks and the cage sinks to the bottom, some 47 meters below the surface and out of communication range with the boat. Kate swims up seven meters to resume communications with Captain Taylor, who tells her Javier will be coming down with a spare winch to attach to the cage. He advises them to stay in the cage as the sharks are circling close by. Both women are quickly running out of air but soon see a flashlight in the distance. With Kate low on air from the previous swim, Lisa swims out to get Javier’s attention. A shark tries to attack her but she swims into a small grotto to avoid it.

While looking around for Javier, Lisa becomes disoriented about her position and Kate’s location. Javier then appears and attempts to usher her back towards safety, but he is attacked and killed by a shark. Lisa takes Javier’s spear gun and the spare winch, and swims back toward the cage. After the spare is attached, Lisa notifies Taylor to pull them up, but the replacement winch line also snaps and the cage sinks back to the bottom. The cage lands on Lisa’s leg, pinning her down.

Kate swims back up to communication range to tell Taylor they are low on air and that Lisa is trapped. Taylor sends some air tanks down and tells them the coast guard is an hour out. He also warns her that the second tank may cause nitrogen narcosis, which can lead to hallucinations.

Will anyone escape this nightmare? Or will the sharks finish their feast… Watch and find out.

47 Meters Down is a chilling and suspenseful, real life horror. From the second the cage begins to plummet, every moment is tense. What begins is every persons’ worst nightmare – being trapped in deep open waters with limited oxygen and sharks on the hunt all around you.

After Jaws, many, many shark movies have followed. It’s extremely difficult to replicate your first shark movie experience but this film did it for me. I was with them in that cage, and in every moment that the sharks came out of nowhere to attack.

47 Meters Down is a refreshing experience in so many ways, the main characters are likeable (!), everyone does everything they can to help and no one does anything needlessly dumb or evil. There are also more threats to the girls’ survival than just sharks. Oxygen running low, nitrogen poisoning, injuries, low temperature. Each believably executed and played out on a realistic timeline.

The effects were authentic and the blood flow in the water wasn’t excessive or over the top. Additionally, it’s filmed impressively. You feel as if they’re truly 47 meters down.

Overall, I hugely enjoyed this film. It was emotional, suspenseful, chilling and tense. It looked great, and the siblings felt like real people you could get behind. An intense, terrifying horror movie that definitely doesn’t need a sequel but I guess we’re getting one anyway!