Into the Deep

by Isaiah Merritt

After an hour of holding it in, I began to scream at the screen. “You’re stupid. You’re stupid.”

The poor decision-making of the characters in Kate Cox’s thriller Into the Deep, written by David Beton, had finally taken its toll on me. 

Into the Deep, starring Ella-Rae Smith, Jessica Alexander, and Matthew Daddario, follows the budding romance of two strangers that become shipwrecked when a mysterious third party joins their affair. 

The premise of this slow-burn thriller has so much potential: an isolated location, strangers harboring potentially criminal secrets, and twisted motives. But the film as a whole fails to bring these delicious ingredients together to create a cohesive, entertaining work. 

Problems begin with the character development of the lead, Jess (Smith). Her amazingly promising backstory ties perfectly into the setting and action of the film. However, this backstory is never effectively delved into or utilized. 

Not every mystery in a narrative needs to be spelled out. Based on the way certain mysteries were presented here, it seems as though the filmmakers did not know how to use them as devices in the film.

While there were no major plot holes, except perhaps in the very last moment, many of the decisions each lead character makes are truly nonsensical. Additionally, the characters will inexplicably overlook or ignore things directly in their faces.

For example, if you pour a gallon of gasoline around someone who has a reasonable sense of smell, you are not going to need to point out to them that they are surrounded by gasoline. That might be fine once or twice, especially in a thriller like this, but not every 15 minutes. 

Into the Deep’s runtime hovers roughly around 90 minutes, which I was excited to see at first. However, this film could have been shortened easily by 20 minutes.

Not only was there far too much pointless exposition, the action did not commence until about an hour into the runtime. No real action, mystery, or discovery in a mystery-thriller for almost two-thirds of its runtime. 

The saddest part in all of this is that it is more than evident that the cast of this movie is uber talented. I cannot wait to see what each player does next, even Nikkita Chadha, who had a supporting role. 

Unfortunately, the wasted talent could not overcome the shallow characters and muddy vision of Into the Deep.