Today’s quick review: Underwater. Norah (Kristen Stewart), an engineer on the world’s deepest underwater drilling rig, becomes one of a handful of survivors when an earthquake destabilizes the facility. Along with Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), Paul (T.J. Miller), and half a dozen others, Norah must make her way across miles of damaged terrain to reach the few remaining escape pods.
Underwater is a dark sci-fi survival thriller starring Kristen Stewart. Trapped in a failing mining facility in the Mariana Trench, Norah and the other survivors realize the only way out is to venture even deeper down. Underwater captures the darkness and panic of one of the harshest locations on Earth. Fast-paced action and an engaging setup make it a tense watch from start to finish, at the cost of some setup and deliberation.
Underwater moves fast and never lets up for long. The action opens right away with a catastrophic hull breach, then settles into the business of rounding up survivors, locating diving equipment, and plotting a route to the escape pods, all on a strict time limit. Visually, Underwater does a great job with its setting, and seeing Norah and the others adapt to the horrors that await them is enough to carry the film.
The downside to Underwater is that it never gets the chance to ruminate on any of its ideas. The movie toys with the isolation and disorientation that come from being so far down, but it never explores them in depth. It introduces a sprawling deep sea facility but only visits it in passing as it is being destroyed. And though the movie shows glimpses of something stranger down in the depths, there are no real answers to be had.
Underwater is a solid pick for fans of dark sci-fi who enjoy flash and spectacle over depth and substance. Immediate action, varied threats, some jarring losses, and one or two worthwhile twists make Underwater an engaging experience for those interested in raw thrills. However, the movie is not as careful or as well-scripted as some of its competition, making it worse fit for those looking for a dark mystery to explore.
For a cleaner, more engineering-focused tale of survival in an inhospitable environment, check out Gravity or The Martian. For survival film about a brush with a hostile lifeform, try Alien, Life, or Pandorum. For a more plot-focused sci-fi movie about overcoming extreme conditions, try Sunshine. For a much more surreal, much more visceral sci-fi horror movie, check out Annihilation.
[5.8 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5774060/). I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for solid thrills with minimal plot to back them up.