Thanks to Netflix, it has finally happened — we got a solid, mid-range, shark-attack movie! It’s a subgenre with a considerable following but a historically inconsistent output. Jaws put sharks on the map, then 20 years of cheap B-movies came before Deep Blue Sea brought them firmly into the ’90s. Open Water was more of a survival-thriller outlier, and it was followed The Shallows and The Meg, which shook things up a little in the 21st century. Punctuating these main players were long stretches of very low-budget, low-quality shark movies, the sort that the SyFy channel would go on to become known for. Pitting a giant shark — or a giant mutated shark — against an equally giant and mutated sea creature became a staple of such fare.
But real shark movie fans have been eagerly awaiting some proper films that don’t go for the tongue-in-cheek, deliberately stupid tone that has become so prevalent in shark movies. We want thrills, stakes, and decent visuals that swallow us up into the action, and finally … blessedly … Thrash has delivered all of that and more.
What Is ‘Thrash’ About?
The small town of Abbieville is due a hurricane of epic proportions — one that experts muse could introduce a whole new category and be named for Ted Bundy over the more mundane Harry. While everybody is boarding up and getting the hell out of dodge, a few locals end up stuck there for one reason or another. Lisa (Phoebe Dynevor) is heavily pregnant and gets called into work unexpectedly. Dakota (Whitney Peak) is home alone. And siblings Dee, Ron, and Will (Alyla Browne, Stacy Clausen and Dante Ubaldi) are subject to the reckless whims of their abusive redneck foster dad, who insists he’s meaner than any hurricane and that they’ll be fine at home. When the hurricane blows in, the levee bursts and the coastal town is flooded. In swims an entire congregation of bull and great white sharks to make the most of the buffet.
It’s a fabulous disaster setup that blends the best of small-town Americana and large-scale, Roland Emmerich-style action filmmaking. Thrash is still a disaster movie, but it allows for a more intimate atmosphere that closes in on small clusters of people affected by the situation, rather than losing them amidst the crowds of whatever large city is affected. (Surely NYC was due a break from this sort of thing!) It also lends a remoteness to the location, with the modest buildings easily swallowed up and swept away by the tides and rescue efforts failing to get close to those who need them. Thrash makes perfect use of its location and the physical spaces it offers.
‘Thrash’ Has Amazing Production Values
One of the most egregious characteristics of the majority of shark movies is their lack of budget and imagination. They often take place on a beach, an island, or on the open water, necessitating not much more than a few actors in bikinis, a canoe, and a six-pack of beer. Their limited resources make for very contained experiences that poorly communicate the vastness of the space and the hopelessness of the situation. Thrash, on the other hand, has production values straight out of the best disaster movies of the ’90s. Here we have a whole town, with entire buildings flooding, vehicles being scooped up in the current, and trees being torn down by the force — and a stunning amount of this is done practically.
The team must have been working with one hell of a water tank — and a sizable budget — to pull off what this film accomplishes, and every cent of it is spent wisely. Cinematographer Matthew Weston and writer/director Tommy Wirkola (Violent Night) have a great sense of scope and of really use these sets and effects to their fullest. We see it from every angle, in shots long enough for us to take in the scene, and courtesy of plenty of camera motion that guides us through this very real, three-dimensional space. At times, it feels like being on one of those immersive Universal Studios rides (RIP Jaws the Ride) because of how well it puts us in the middle of the action.
Relatable Characters Elevate ‘Thrash’
It’s fairly common for creature features to be populated by characters we feel little to nothing for: flat, cardboard people whose only real purpose is to fill the runtime until they get eaten. Thrash does a solid job of avoiding this standard pitfall. Dakota, as played by the always charming Whitney Peak, suffers from anxiety since the deaths of both her parents. And when she is called upon to leave the relative safety of her house to help Lisa, who is trapped in a flooding car, there is a wholly relatable moment where she goes back inside and just panics. Sure, stressful situations can bring out unexpected strength in some people, but who hasn’t watched a disaster movie and simply thought, “Nope!”? It’s nice to see a movie character have a human reaction to such an unbelievable situation, and, although she eventually musters the courage to help out, her hesitation makes her feel very real.
Then, we have the three siblings, who are played with remarkable sincerity and likability by Browne, Clausen and Ubaldi. They, too, behave like real kids, rather than the movie types who always have a smart one-liner to offer and never seem even slightly disturbed or terrified in dangerous situations. They are united in their disdain for their selfish and aggressive foster parents, but they love and support each other. Their various efforts to protect themselves and others from harm are realistically valiant. In fact, characters across the board show the kindness and bravery that we like to believe disaster brings out in us, but it never feels sappy or unbelievable — just a strong show of humanity in perilous times.
But beyond all this, Thrash remains a highly entertaining movie. Think The Day After Tomorrow but with sharks. This flick features disastrous imagery, fantastic use of sets, cool animatronics, impressive camerawork, and a thoroughly absorbing setup. Importantly, there is also plenty of sharky goodness. Last year’s Dangerous Animals was a great little thriller, but it advertised itself as more of a shark movie than it turned out to be. Thrash gives you exactly what it promises, and then some. Now please, let’s have more like this! If I could have one Thrash for every ten Sharktopus, I would be one very happy sharkophile.
- Release Date
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April 10, 2026
- Runtime
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83 Minutes
- Director
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Tommy Wirkola
- Writers
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Tommy Wirkola
- Producers
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Adam McKay, Tommy Wirkola, Kevin J. Messick
Cast
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Phoebe Dynevor
Lisa Fields
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- ‘Thrash’ offers up a brilliant disaster setup with exciting stakes.
- The film features likable and well-played characters from a talented cast.
- Immersive imagery with strong production values.
