[Film Review] Great White (2021)

From its opening, in which a cavorting couple is rather unceremoniously offed, Great White sets itself out as a typical shark vs. people movie. Instantly it makes the most of the idyllic coastal setting with aerial photography contributing to the sense of scale. Unfortunately, Great White is a film unable to set itself apart and feels like a missed opportunity.

Synopsis: A fun filled flight to a remote atoll turns into a nightmare for five passengers when their seaplane is destroyed in a freak accident and they are trapped on a raft, 100 miles from shore with man-eating sharks lurking beneath the surface.

The main issue with Great White is that a lot of the runtime is dedicated to human tensions. We are introduced to our main couple, nurse Kaz (Katrina Bowden) and seaplane pilot and former marine biologist, Charlie (Aaron Jakubenko), who are experiencing financial difficulties. Luckily for them, a potential resolution is introduced almost immediately as rich Joji (Tim Kano) hires them to travel to a remote stretch of land the following day. Joji and wife Michelle (Kimie Tsukakoshi) arrive with their own simmering difficulties. Further tension arises between Joji and Benny (Te Kohe Tuhaka), a chef along for the trip.

The film introduces and handles these simplistic tensions so efficiently that it impedes development. The issues are mostly surface level, but some elements are further explored. For example, Charlie’s initial flippancy about his previous shark attack quickly gives way to short, sharp blasts of the traumatic memory as events progress. This is arguably one of the film’s strengths and one of the few times it chooses to show the trauma rather than state it in dialogue. The cuts also allow for a small blast of energy in sections that run a little long. The lack of depth in the characters keeps the stakes low, even though the performances are solid. 

The lack of characterisation aside, the film also struggles in the presentation of the sharks. The CGI is subpar lowering the stakes further as the film skirts around showing too much of the titular creature. However, at least the film is aware of the failings and this awareness does help the film, switching some of the action to scenes at night to cleverly conceal the weaknesses and using the effects sparingly. This also has the effect of making sections of the film look very different from one another, contrasting the brightness and beauty of the local during the day and the unforgiving darkness of the ocean at night. That visual clash is the most striking element of the film.

Great White is, perhaps curiously for a shark attack film, a near-bloodless effort. It ticks some boxes in terms of the suddenness of attacks and people being dragged from below that have become a staple and is perhaps best considered as more of a younger teen horror that allows for some exposure without introducing anything too graphic. The central concept of the characters being stuck on an inflatable raft does stretch suspension of disbelief considerably with them so exposed to danger yet it never reaches a point where it feels like that threat is immediate or insurmountable. That lack of threat does offset the pace somewhat, with too much time spent watching increasingly angry characters bobbing in the ocean with little else to focus on.

Lush locations and low stakes make this a solid if unremarkable and occasionally frustrating entry in the body of shark films.

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