Review: Thrash

Directed by: Tommy Wirkola

Written by: Tommy Wirkola

Starring: Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak, Djimon Hounsou, Matt Nable, Andrew Lees, Alyla Browne 

Rating: [1.5/5]

When hurricanes roll into town, the primary fear for impacted individuals revolves around the inevitable water damage that will ensue. It all comes down to how well one can mitigate it and whether or not they have the adequate insurance to recoup some of the costs this damage causes to property. Not often would a slew of sharks entering town and causing mayhem creep up as a major concern as Thrash demonstrates. While knowingly having silliness to it, this film unfortunately struggles from not having much energy to it. 

In Annieville, South Carolina, they prepare for an incoming Category 5 hurricane coming their way. Heavily pregnant Lisa (Phoebe Dynevor) is unable to evacuate town before the water hits, while Dakota (Whitney Peak) finds herself unable to leave her house due to her agoraphobia. Their issues get made worse when the flooding and right circumstances allow a bevy of hungry bull sharks to begin terrorizing everyone they can find. 

Watching Thrash, I could not help but draw parallels to the much superior Crawl, released seven years ago with a fairly similar premise with a rising female lead but with alligators instead of sharks. Where that film succeeded and this one fails comes from its scattershot approach of following different characters, resulting in a lack of an emotional core in addition to not producing exciting sequences with their deadly animals of choice. Decisions that ultimately will leave one unaffected by all of its attempted silliness. 

Ultimately we follow four groups of individuals: two mentioned previously and then a group of marine researchers in addition to a trio of foster kids forced to shelter in place with foster parents from hell. The one with the foster parents is beyond comical as it plays into the worst stereotypes of these arrangements. It displays how the foster parents don’t care for these kids in the slightest and make them eat cereal while they pocket the cash they receive from the local government for fostering to keep a fridge full of steaks and other indulgences for themselves. As someone who did foster children, the assertion that the money paid to these parents could afford them these luxuries is beyond laughable, but at the very least, the film ensures to punish these abusive foster parents when those bull sharks come around. 

As we get to the sharks, the film turns into standard fare where individuals have to jump around solid items floating in the water, as plunging too deep would leave them vulnerable to being the next snack. In these moments, the film works best, especially in the comedic way these sharks eat their prey, except the lack of character development made it fairly simple to not care too much about everything transpiring. Additionally, while there’s an inherent silliness to this film, it could not sustain a particular tone in what it wanted to present through these characters. We have some fairly serious moments of tension in the film with these characters, but then everything turns into some cartoon show when the sharks arrive. It creates this gulf between what we should take seriously and remain bound to reality and when we should just allow the silliness to prevail. 

The biggest sin, however, committed was the waste of its lead, Phoebe Dynevor. Certainly receiving top billing in this feature and serving as the main draw other than the dangerous sharks that will lure people to play this on their television, Dynevor was given nothing to do other than having to wince and wane about her pregnant belly. A complete misuse of an actor who can give much more than just staying stuck in a car or lying on a bed afraid of incoming sharks and the ability to deliver this child. Djimon Hounsou’s barely in this, but I’m happy he’s getting another paycheck. 

Utterly and completely forgettable, Thrash proved difficult to write about simply because nothing about this film drives any intrigue or elements to remember. It wants to be this silly shark movie mixed in with a disaster flick given the hurricane involved, but it failed to endear us to its characters in addition to entertaining with the use of these sharks. Simply, it’s an unenjoyable film that will leave no impression and can be tossed on the pile of other forgettable shark movies that exist out in the ether.