Nic, struggling with PTSD after finding her friend murdered, joins her friends for a day of kayaking. While having fun, a rogue (one more aggressive than usual) great white begins to hunt them, and the children that are playing in the water. After one of them is killed and a child injured the women, which have landed on an empty, secluded island must enter the water again to get help. That’s the premise of The Reef: Stalked, the sequel to The Reef.
Unlike most killer shark movies with terrible CGI, Stalked features live sharks, like the 2009 original. And for that I am thankful. As a shark lover, I can’t stand to see those fake AF sharks. The movie turns a stunning, big, beautiful great white into the villain. I will say this, I don’t like to see sharks turned into villains. They aren’t murderous, they don’t form grudges, and they don’t have motives. They simply are what they are, nature’s finest eating machines.
The cinematography is great. Stunning ocean views mix with moments of chaos and drama as the water churns and blood bubbles up from beneath the waves. The attacks are relatively believable, not hyped-up, gore-filled scenes. It’s one of the more realistic shark movies I’ve seen, save for a scene with a Kayak that gives a nod to Jaws.
The tension is built up well in the film, writer-director Andrew Traucki takes the time to tell this story. Nothing is rushed or feel’s forced, and the timing is spot on.
As for the cast, Teressa Liane who plays Nic, really captures her character’s mourning, panic, and PTSD. The personal drama that plays out between her character and those of actresses Ann Truong, Kate Lister, and Saskia Archer is a nice addition to the plot, adding depth.
All in all, The Reef: Stalked is a drama and an action-filled movie worth diving into. Luckily, you don’t have to wait long, The Reef: Stalked sinks its teeth into theaters, Digital, Demand, and Shudder on July 29, 2022.
