Written by: Ryan Dailey
Andrew Tarucki visits the aquatic realm once again in The Reef: Stalked. The premise is simple, as most shark movies are not that complicated.
Four women paddle their kayaks from point A to point B. Simple enough. The writer/director tries to bring more to the tale than simple man versus nature by adding an abuse/murder subplot.
The central protagonist, Nic (Teressa Liane) finds out her sister and diving cohort Cath (Bridget Burt) was drowned in the bathtub by her abuser, Greg (Tim Ross). Nic becomes racked with PTSD, even becoming estranged from her other sister, Annie (Saskia Archer) until they reunite some months after their sibling’s death for this “therapeutic” dive.
This is where things start to fall apart.
The metaphors are heavy-handed and shoved down your throat at this juncture. Nic continuously sees her sister’s dead body, submerged in water. Something that happens more frequently when she faces the shark, giving us a very heavy handed metaphor of her facing the predatory murderer in her mind, as well as the literal one lurking in the waters. While the effort was noble in wanting to create a narrative where the characters are fleshed out and three-dimensional, it really falls short in a film that should have focused on being a creature-feature.
The film itself is nothing spectacular, nor is it unwatchable. When the movie is not bombarding the audience with drowning flashbacks or so-so shark effects, the script and the actors manage to draw the movie-watching crowd in a-la Open Water.
Overall, The Reef: Stalked might not warrant multiple viewings, as the story and the allegory contained therein are pretty straight forward and everything can be caught on the first viewing.
The Reef: Stalked is in theaters, on demand and streaming on Shudder.