Underwater (2020)

Submitted by Kelvin_Inman t3_z4kfwh in movies

Just finished my second time watching this one. I find it to be pretty solid, and just a bit underrated.

The movie dives right into the action, creating a tense and claustrophobic situation. There is very little character development throughout, just enough to get by, but that works with the cast. No complaints about Kristen Stewart, she carries the story from point A to point B believably enough. Jessica Henwick brings more emotion, her performance is a highlight, as the situation causes her to break down. T.J. Miller is great, and I can’t think of any other time I’ve thought that. He is the oddball character with sarcastic comments about the dangers of the situation that a movie like this tends to have. Sometimes a role just suits someone. Vincent Cassel as the Captain is good casting as well.

The suit designs, and the base/ship designs have a cool well-worn industrial look. Catastrophic moments play out in exciting ways. The movie can be VERY dark, with some shots establishing the outside of underwater structures hard to make out. I rewound more than once to get a better look at a few locations.

As for the ending… >! the creatures, particularly the primary one, has a very Lovecraftian feel. I appreciate that there was no complex lore shoved in to try and explain them beyond their presence being the result of drilling into a thermal pocket. The extra-dark shots helped make all the CGI look pretty good, nothing stood out as odd or cartoonish. As for creature design, I’m not crazy about the humanoid design (arms & legs), but perhaps that’s better than too abstract. Just seemed like a weird evolutionary design for something trapped deep underwater for what is likely a very long time. !<

This one isn’t going to be considered a horror classic, but it’s claustrophobic survival vibe makes it a good choice for fans of The Descent and Pandorum.

https://imgur.com/a/EBIKj5y

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imaginary-places t1_ixrf453 wrote

It's like cosmic horror in an underwater environment. I'm dying for more movies that explore the unknowns of reality (our own unexplored oceans and the furthest reaches of outerspace) within a horror context.

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J3573R84 t1_ixreoa0 wrote

I stumbled across this movie a few years back when flicking through channels to find something to watch.

I wasn’t sure what to expect as I hadn’t seen Kristen Stewart in anything outside of Twilight so I wasn’t expecting much and was pretty much hooked from the start. I liked the pace of the movie and I had gone in blind with no knowledge of the movie so it was all a developing suspense with a very great payoff.

I’ve recommended it to many people that enjoy sci-fi movies and it is a solid movie that deserves the recognition. On IMDB it’s rated 5.8 but that’s not a fair score at all and possibly stopping people giving it a chance . I would say it had to be somewhere around 7.5 - 8.5 but I understand not everyone will feel this to be accurate.

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Realsteels0311 t1_ixscfie wrote

If you liked her performance here, you should check out Spencer, she plays Princess Diana and her performance is beyond phenomenal.

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J3573R84 t1_ixsnojr wrote

Sounds interesting, I will be sure to check it out if I can find it streaming somewhere. Thank you for the recommendation I appreciate it 🙂

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Realsteels0311 t1_ixsqeu5 wrote

It’s on Hulu if you have that

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J3573R84 t1_ixsr2h5 wrote

I’m in the UK and don’t have a VPN set up. I will have a look and see where has it here.

Edit: I’ve checked using Just Watch and it’s available on Amazon Prime Video so I will give it a watch over the weekend. Thanks again 😊

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Palmerstroll t1_ixs6skd wrote

Seen it twice also. Just a nice one. Starts direct and no weird nonsens.

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eightslicesofpie t1_ixsljee wrote

In regards to your note about the ending: >!the director actually explicitly stated that the monster is literally Cthulhu!<

Here's a link which I could not put behind the spoiler tag lol

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emperor000 t1_ixtj177 wrote

You realize that is literally Cthulu, right? And the reason they are humanoid is, well, you know.

But, yeah, it's good. I'm pretty tolerant of movies. Most movies are at least okay. This one was surprisingly good and I think pretty underrated. It gets sporadic praise like this, which is great, but doesn't seem to really get widespread recognition.

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Kelvin_Inman OP t1_ixuryxy wrote

I didn’t realize it was a actually Cthulu till the discussion here, just thought it was inspired by 😂

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zLucifur t1_ixv8pcu wrote

There’s some good subtle hints throughout too. The captains locker in the old abandoned station that was “destroyed” in the official reports had some sketches of Cthulhu and some crossed out points on a map. And he’s lost track of time since his daughter died, and likely hoping to have her resurrected.

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Man_Derella_203 t1_ixrdc7l wrote

The most Jim Cameron looking movie Jim Cameron didn't direct. Great film and is slowly becoming more appreciated, which is always good to see.

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TrickNatural t1_ixrao9h wrote

I agree. Its very solid. Its not original and it doesnt deviate from genre formulas, but I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would and I do feel its a bit underrated. I personally loved the setting, the final creature reveal and creature design because its very purposely done to imitate lovecratian lore. Thats a nice touch, even if it feels a bit out of place or under-explored.

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emperor000 t1_ixtj6fy wrote

It isn't imitating Lovecraft lore. It IS Lovecraft lore. That was Cthulu.

For being a Lovecraft film, it was pretty original. I have no idea how you think it wasn't original or didn't deviate at all.

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HPmoni t1_ixt1sv7 wrote

I'm glad they found ways for her to be seminude.

This was one of the last movies released before Covid and we began hating TJ Miller.

TJ was great in this.

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emperor000 t1_ixtjr1y wrote

You might be joking, but I'm genuinely glad. It was a pretty well done Alien homage.

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Getupkid1284 t1_ixrjxh1 wrote

Moviepass'd this at release because of the positive talk around it and found it to be very average.

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OldBison t1_ixrpi9t wrote

This sort of reminded me of overlord, in the sense that they are both fun, competently made genre movies.

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ObiTate t1_ixsy35j wrote

It's a good horror film. Shame that it bombed. I skipped it in theaters because it starred Kristen Stewart. That was my mistake. I watched it on VOD earlier this year and loved it. Just bought the blu ray on Amazon's Black Friday sale. Was like $8.

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Dutch_1987 t1_ixtjeyi wrote

Movie ends with a direct opportunity for a sequel too. Don't think they are in talk any longer, but it would be cool to see where they would go with a sequel idea (marines...hmm Navy Seals to go down with those two survivors, and perhaps throw in a Tian Industries Corporation representative (who has alternative motives)...call it the sequel 'Underwater$')

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InternetDickJuice t1_ixvd401 wrote

The movie is awesome and Kristen Stewart looked incredible. Whoever designed her look deserved an Oscar

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SeparateSalt9892 t1_ixrpzp4 wrote

Definitely enjoyed watching this film. I appreciated that it wasn’t trying to set itself up to being anything more than a standalone movie / contained story. As a result, it was very lean and wasn’t trying to do any significant world building, which I think contributed to it being a worthwhile watch.

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DerpDumpster t1_ixryjle wrote

I don’t really keep up with her movies but this one looked good and I watched it and actually enjoyed it a lot

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DickBatman t1_ixspnu2 wrote

Solid, I agree. I saw it in theaters and I enjoyed it, and haven't thought of it since.

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TommyShelbyDon t1_ixrtqhk wrote

Imo it was too dark during all the water scenes. I couldn’t see what was going on for a lot of it. Idk I thought the buildup didn’t really payoff.

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AssStuffing t1_ixt0q7k wrote

NOT EVERY MOVIE YOU LIKE IS UNDERRATED, r/movies!

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