Movies that are set in or on the ocean have long been very entertaining for audiences, and the new thrillerLast Breathis no exception.Last Breathrecounts the true story of a team of deep-sea diverswho do everything in their power to help rescue their teammate after his umbilical line snaps, leaving him stranded at the bottom of the ocean.Last Breathhas received positive reviewsthanks to the performances of its cast and the movie’s ability to build suspense throughout its entire runtime.
As is evidenced by the movie’s positive critical response and ongoing success with audiences,Last Breathis a great addition to the subgenre ofthrillers that take place on the ocean. In fact, it seems like each year brings a new release that centers on the dangers of being in the ocean, meaning that there are plenty to choose from. However, the best examples of the subgenre make the audience truly reconsider whether they want to step foot in the ocean at all after watching, andLast Breathis joined by several great companions in this category.
The Shallows
Cast
The Shallows follows Nancy Adams, a young surfer who’s attacked by a great white shark after getting stranded 200 yards from the shore while surfing alone at a secluded beach in Mexico. Blake Lively stars in the 2016 survival thriller, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.
Jaume Collet-Serra’s 2016 movieThe Shallowsis the perfect example of how to scare audiences without ever losing sight of the shore. While many movies about the ocean take place miles from land,The Shallowssees its main character Nancy (Blake Lively) in danger just 200 yards away from shore. Nancy, a med student who recently lost her mother, decides to visit a beach in Mexico that her mother visited while pregnant with her to remember her and go surfing for the day.
While sharks mostly do not want to mess with people swimming,The Shallowsdoes a great job of bringing many viewers' fears to life with non-stop intensity.
However, things go horribly wrong when she becomes trapped on a rock just offshore after being attacked by a shark.The Shallowssees Nancy use every survival skill she has to attempt to make it to shore. While audiences don’t usually like to think about it, it is fairly common for sharks to swim close to the shore, meaningthe fear of shark attacks, even in shallow water, is not entirely unfounded. While sharks mostly do not want to mess with people swimming,The Shallowsdoes a great job of bringing many viewers' fears to life with non-stop intensity.
Deep Blue Sea
A sci-fi action horror film released in 1999, Deep Blue Sea follows a group of scientists trapped in the ocean deep within a research facility as several massive genetically altered sharks begin to wreak havoc. Despite the researcher’s best intentions, the scientific experiments conducted in this facility have grown hyper-intelligent and incredibly strong, making them apex predators the likes that have never been seen.
Many of the most famous movies in the ocean thriller subgenre revolve around sharks as they are typically seen as an easy predator to use to create fear in the characters. However,Deep Blue Seatakes that logic a step further by centering on genetically modified sharks. The movie takes place in a scientific lab based in the ocean that uses sharks to study Alzheimer’s disease, but what the team is hiding is that they genetically modified the sharks to increase their brain size, inadvertently making them smarter and better predators.
Deep Blue Sea: Where The Cast Is Now
Deep Blue Sea is a thrilling shark horror directed by Renny Harlin, starring an impressive line-up of familiar faces. Here’s where they are now.
Admittedly, many facets ofDeep Blue Seaare quite silly and entirely unrealistic, but the movie’s message does still stand.The ocean and its creatures are far more dangerous than humans are often willing to acknowledgeand this can create dangerous situations. In short, don’t mess with the ocean. While most viewers likely won’t find themselves in this situation anytime soon,Deep Blue Seais still thrilling enough to remind audiences of how much we don’t know about the ocean.
The Poseidon Adventure
The Poseidon Adventure is a disaster film directed by Ronald Neame. It follows a group of passengers as they struggle for survival after their luxury cruise ship capsizes in the open sea. Starring Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, and Shelley Winters, the film showcases their desperate journey to safety amidst perilous conditions. The Poseidon Adventure is based on Paul Gallico’s novel and emphasizes themes of bravery and human resilience.
The 1972 movieThe Poseidon Adventureis a classic disaster movie that is a must-watch for fans of the genre and has inspired several adaptions throughout the decades.The Poseidon Adventurealso features a great cast led by Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons and more. Based on the book of the same name,The Poseidon Adventurecenters on the passengers of the SS Poseidon, a luxury ocean liner that is hit by a massive tsunami wave following an underwater earthquake which capsizes the boat.
The majority of the film sees the boat’s survivors attempting to get off the sinking ship so they can be rescued, but the journey is incredibly perilous. WhileThe Poseidon Adventurestands in contrast to many of the scariest movies set on the ocean, since it does not involve any ocean creatures or being trapped deep underwater,it certainly forces audiences to think about the randomness and power of the ocean. The inhabitants of the ship believe themselves to be safe only to have that taken away thanks to a rogue wave, which is a frighteningly real possibility at sea.
47 Meters Down
47 Meters Down is a thriller directed by Johannes Roberts. The film follows two sisters, played by Mandy Moore and Claire Holt, who become trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean during a vacation in Mexico. With limited oxygen and surrounded by great white sharks, they must find a way to escape before time runs out.
Being trapped underwater is a scary enough thought as is, but47 Meters Downcombines that fear with the possibility of being surrounded by sharks. The 2017 horror movie stars Claire Holt and Mandy Moore as two sisters, Kate and Lisa, who decide to go cage diving to observe sharks while on vacation in Mexico. However, after being lowered into the water, the winch boom breaks, andthe cage sinks to the bottom of the ocean with the women trapped inside and surrounded by great white sharks.
Luckily for viewers who enjoy cage-diving in safe circumstances, the movie is not very realistic, but that does not change the fact that its tense scenes might make some inexperienced audiences think twice about trying the activity.
While Kate and Lisa look for a way to get back to the surface, their situation becomes increasingly worse as they get lower on air, eventually leading to47 Meters Down’s twist ending. Luckily for viewers who enjoy cage-diving in safe circumstances, the movie is not very realistic, but that does not change the fact that its tense scenes might make some inexperienced audiences think twice about trying the activity. More than anything, perhaps47 Meters Downworks best as a reminder that the ocean can be dangerous, even with all the right equipment and preparation.
In the Heart of the Sea
Based on the real-life event that inspired Moby Dick, In the Heart of the Sea is directed by Ron Howard and stars Chris Hemsworth as Owen Chase, first mate of the whaling ship Essex who must fight for his life in the middle of the ocean when a whale destroys his ship, killing most of his crew and stranding him and a few survivors on a lifeboat. Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson also star.
One of the hardest ocean movies to watch is undoubtedlyIn the Heart of the Seabecause it retells a harrowing true story. There are no angry or genetically modified sharks to be found here, just an account of the sinking of theEssexwhaleship which occurred in 1820 and the ordeal that the crew went through afterward.In the Heart of the Seawas directed by Ron Howard and features an all-star cast including Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy and more, meaning that the movie keeps viewers engrossed throughout its entire runtime.
The true story of theEssexserved as one of the inspirations for the classic novel Moby Dick, andIn the Heart of the Seaalso features some of the book’s main themes.
The historical drama details the crew setting out on their whaling venture, but after finding little luck, they sail further and eventually are attacked by a white sperm whale that sinks their ship. To survive, the men board their smaller whale boats and attempt to navigate the open ocean. WhileIn the Heart of the Seais partially a story of survival and resilience,the gruesome lengths that the men must go to to survive highlight the horrors of being lost at sea with little hope of rescue.
The Abyss
The Abyss is James Cameron’s fourth feature film and his second water-themed movie. Starring Ed Harris, Michael Biehn, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, the 1989 drama that revolves around a team of oil workers and Navy SEALs who face a mysterious alien race at the bottom of the ocean.
James Cameron’s 1989 filmThe Abyssis pure science fiction, butit still has several scenes that make audiences question why anyone would want to be that deep in the ocean.The Abysscenters on a submarine that has sunk near the Cayman Trough in the Caribbean and the efforts made by the US government and the workers of an underwater drilling platform that are attempting to salvage the submarine before it is too late. However, the crew gets more than they bargained for when they learn that there are other beings underwater that none of them can explain.
Though some of the science and the probability of underwater aliens certainly seem far-fetched to many viewers,the dangers of deep-sea diving can be very real, andThe Abyssdoes a great job of reminding us of that. Thanks to some friendly underwater aliens,The Abyss’s ending is actually more positive than many of the other movies in the ocean thriller category, but Cameron’s excellent direction and ability to create suspense keep audiences hooked throughout the film.
all is lost
All Is Lost is a survival drama film starring Robert Redford as a lone sailor facing life-threatening challenges after his yacht collides with a shipping container in the Indian Ocean. Directed by J.C. Chandor, the film features minimal dialogue and focuses on the protagonist’s resourcefulness and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds. Through meticulous attention to detail, the narrative explores themes of human endurance and isolation.
The 2013 survival filmAll Is Lostis pretty unusual given that there is only one cast member, Robert Redford, and the entire film includes only 51 words, but it is a near-perfect example of the extreme circumstances of being lost at sea. The film was well-received and even won several awards due to its ability to highlight the fading hope of its main character. There is nothing science fiction about the film at all.All Is Lostis straightforwardly about survival and the lengths that humans can survive through when forced into existential danger.
Though this sort of danger seems unlikely for swimmers who remain close to the shore,All Is Lostcould certainly make even seasoned sailors wary of the worst possibilities.
All Is Lostsees its unnamed main character struggle to keep his boat afloat after it is damaged by a shipping container, but just when it seems that he has fixed the damage he is hit by an oncoming storm.Each major moment of the film sees the man tried by a new challengeas his boat eventually sinks, and he is left to navigate the ocean in a life raft. Though this sort of danger seems unlikely for swimmers who remain close to the shore,All Is Lostcould certainly make even seasoned sailors wary of the worst possibilities.
The Perfect Stormis a 2000 disaster movie based on the nonfiction book of the same name. With a cast led by George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly, Diane Lane and more, the movie is full of impressive performances. However,the main takeaway fromThe Perfect Stormis how devastating the real-life 1991 storm was. The biographical film outlines the lives of the crew members and their circumstances before boarding theAndrea Gailfishing boat through the rescue attempts made for the crew.
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Films where characters are lost at sea do an excellent job of pulling audiences into their exhilarating stories of survival in the vast ocean waters.
The tragic true story highlights the unpredictability of the oceanand how little humans can do to interfere with it when bad weather conditions arise. Despite the attempts to help theAndrea Gailmade by another fishing crew, a helicopter crew, and the Coast Guard, sadly neither the boat nor any of the crew were ever found.The Perfect Stormhighlights the bravery of those involved in the attempted rescue and the crew themselves, but it does certainly show the risks of running into storms in the open ocean.
Jaws
Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, follows the residents of Amity Island as they face terror from a menacing great white shark. The town’s police chief, a marine biologist, and a seasoned shark hunter join forces to track and kill the predator threatening their coastal community. Released in 1975.
If there is one reason why so many people alive today are afraid of sharks, that reason isJaws.Jawshas been regarded as the first blockbuster movie and even held the title of highest-grossing movie ever for a period of time. Beyond its massive impact on the movie industry,Jawsalso massively impacted how people see sharks. In fact, according toSmithsonian Magazine, Steven Spielberg himself stated that he regretted how the film had changed perceptions of sharks.
Jaws Producers Fired Its First Director For Getting This 1 Basic Detail Wrong
Steven Spielberg was not the first director of Jaws. He stepped in after the first director was fired from the shark movie for making a silly mistake.
It seems unfair to blameJawsfor any fear of sharks, but the truth is that it did inspire so many of the movies that came after it, which have been rooted in the false idea that sharks go out of their way to attack people.Jawssees shark attacks happen both in the shallow waters of public beaches and deeper in the ocean, where the film’s biggest confrontation takes place. Understandably, then, the fear of sharks caused byJawshas likely caused its fair share of people to avoid the ocean, at least for a little while.
Last Breath
Last Breath is a film releasing in 2025, depicting the harrowing true story of experienced deep-sea divers who confront fierce natural forces to save a crewmate trapped deep beneath the ocean surface.
Last Breathis a great example of the unexpected dangers of working at sea, and it is completely understandable that it may put audiences off going into the ocean for a while. The biographical survival movie stars Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole, and Cliff Curtis as members of a diving team who experienced a catastrophe when their 2012 job ended in a shocking accident. The new movie perfectly recreates how tense the situation really would have been as the crew raced against time to rescue the diver Chris Lemons.
While many survival films based on true stories can only offer very bleak endings,Last Breath’s endingis unexpectedly positive, as the real-life Chris Lemons actually survived the events portrayed in the film.The possibility of being stuck 100 meters below the ocean’s surface is admittedly terrifyingand would make most audiences think twice about setting foot in the ocean, but Chris Lemons recovered almost immediately and even returned to finish the job just a few weeks later making the true story even more impressive thanLast Breath.
