THE BAY

The Bay unfortunately represents the lowest standard in creature based horror films with a mind numbing script and stiff performances that never for a second capture the impending threat of the blood thirsty sharks lurking in the water.

It’s been fifty-one years since Steven Spielberg made movie goers forever fearful of swimming with his landmark horror film Jaws, which has set the bar at an insurmountable height for any future shark film to beat. Not even advances in technology and filmmaking have given subsequent films the edge to claim the title of best shark film from Jaws. What has helped subsequent films is finding a different angle to approach the subgenre with, whether it be the absurd take that Deep Blue Sea took where the sharks were an equivalent of a Terminator, or The Meg and its sequel which went for the biggest sharks possible and having Jason Statham. The latest entry in the subgenre, and the second of three shark films to be released this summer, is Phil Volken’s The Bay, taking the danger to Thailand with stars Francesca Eastwood and Alexander Wraith. Though sadly even with blood thirsty tiger sharks in the waters of Thailand, The Bay is not only a frustrating shark film that has a flimsy screenplay that creates no stakes or emotional connection for viewers, but is an all-around bad film that is destined to be instantly forgotten on a streaming service and never thought of again.

Early on in the film, the script indicates what type of film audiences are in for. With the character articulating the most obvious foreshadowing, referring to the shark as the local celebrity, uttering the phrase “don’t act like prey”, and one character exclaiming “don’t you have a life raft” when the boat they are in is barely large enough to hold more than six individuals (which is unintentionally one of the most hilarious moments of the film), it is painfully obvious that The Bay is not going to be a good film. It feels like Volken is intentionally toying with the audience, questioning their intelligence and having to spell out the shark carnage that is about to occur, despite being very obvious that is what is about to happen. Never mind the intellectual shortcomings of the story, where it seems in far too many instances that the characters had a chance to attempt to save themselves, but choose not to instead waiting to become the tiger shark’s next meal. It’s a head scratching thrill-less ride, that not only fails to deliver on the terrifying excitement of a great shark film, but ends on such a ridiculous note that you can’t help but laugh at how absurdly unnecessary the ending to the story is.

Dialogue is not only poorly written and spoon feeding plot points to the viewers, but not a single line of it is delivered with any ounce of commitment from the cast. The performances from the small cast does very little to elevate the film’s writing, delivering what can only be described as a stiff and wooden reading of the film’s dialogue. Even the chemistry is off between the cast, which is surprising given Eastwood and Wraith, the film’s leading stars, are married in real life but are only able to find a few fleeting moments of genuine connection on camera, suggesting that the only enjoyment they got out of this film was the paid vacation to Thailand they got to shoot it.

The saving grace of the film is that it is shot on location in Thailand, offering some stunning backdrop vistas to distract viewers from the horrendous writing and lacklustre shark thrills the film delivers. Cinematographer Helge Gerull creates a handful of great shots of the tiger sharks circling their prey, but the effectiveness of these moments are immediately undercut by the dialogue. Not helping the intended thrills of the story is the fact that with such crystal clear waters it looks like they are filming in a location where the water is only a few feet deep, giving the film the false illusion that the characters could have walked or easily swam to shore even before the sharks arrived. This instantly drains any ounce of tension and fear that the audience should otherwise be feeling throughout the film, creating a lacklustre set of thrills that never tap into viewers’ innate fear of sharks and swimming in a horror movie. The sharks themselves look real enough for the aerial shots of the water, but then the close-up shots it is clear that the sharks are obviously fake due to poor CGI that makes them feel like a non-threat. Never is this more so obvious than in the film’s final scene, which is a truly laughable moment of something that a shark would not naturally do and begs the audience to dispense belief after a relatively grounded shark film, which is the film’s final nail in its coffin.

Every year there are a handful of horror films that play on a popular premise within their specific subgenre and do it so poorly that it not only questions the audiences’ intelligence to believe this is a passable film, but creates a frustrating and dull viewing experience. Sadly, The Bay is helping to fill that quota this year as not only is it completely void of any sense of fear, danger or terror that normally accompanies a shark film, but it is so unconvincingly constructed that there is no entertainment value to be derived from it. Poorly acted and featuring mind numbingly painful dialogue that spoon feeds the audience an incredibly simple premise, not even some gorgeous shots of Thailand can salvage The Bay from being an unintentionally funny and bad creature feature from start to finish.