Open Water (2004)

"Superlative chiller.  Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader
"It's a bone-chilling plunge into no-holds-barred storytelling.  David Sterrit, Christian Science Monitor
"In spirit, Open Water reduces us to children peering through our fingers, waiting for the horrid deliverance we're not quite sure we want to see.  Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Editor's Note Proving that the power of imagination is much more terrifying than what meets the eye, OPEN WATER is Chris Kentis's intensely realistic deep-sea drama, "based on true events." The film's leering digital video camera allows viewers to float like shark-bait, stranded in the middle of the ocean with Susan and Daniel (Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis), a bickering married couple who have just been abandoned by their scuba-diving boat in the Caribbean. As the tension escalates between the troubled twosome--who are cold, tired, dehydrated, and more than a little scared--the tragedy of the situation is exacerbated by a series of very unfortunate conditions. While a current sweeps them far from where the boat left them, and deep dark clouds pass menacingly overhead, the sea-life just below the surface is clearly not of the friendly variety. Yes, those are real sharks, folks. Meanwhile, Daniel, who watched Shark Week on television, is no stranger to the perils at hand, and finds himself battling shock. Minutes pass like hours, with the light shifting on the water and the constant motion of the waves adding to this unfathomable nightmare. The shimmering blues of wide expanses of sea are offset by dazzling underwater photography, yet the mood remains bleak. And while no special effects, abrupt developments, or abrasive gore are present here, the film instills such fear that viewers will be frozen awaiting the surprising conclusion. A day at the beach will never be quite the same again.

	Blanchard Ryan
	Daniel Travis
	Estelle Lau
	Saul Stein
	Chris Kentis - Director
	Chris Kentis - Screenplay
	Chris Kentis - Cinematographer
	Chris Kentis - Editor
	Graeme Revell - Original Music By
	Laura Lau - Cinematographer
	Laura Lau - Producer

Entertainment Weekly
"OPEN WATER becomes a slow and steady descent into pure fear. Kentis has a born filmmaker's instinct for physical detail..." 08/20/2004 p.100-1

Movieline's Hollywood Life
"The premise is inherently chilling..." 07/01/2004 p.86

Rolling Stone
"Kentis never lets up on the tension. You can feel the water, stretching against an unsheltering sky, seep into your bones....Eighty sweat-job minutes of imaginative, jolting suspense." 09/02/2004 p.150

USA Today
"The intensity never lets up..." 09/03/2004 p.10E

Uncut
"The two leads do admirable acting jobs..." 10/01/2004 p.142

Chicago Sun-Times
"[The film] exerts a powerful emotional despair that is way beyond scary." 12/24/2004 p.11

James Berardinelli's ReelViews 8 of 10
Despite its flaws, I welcome Open Water with great enthusiasm, because it offers genuine scar

Rolling Stone 9 of 10
Ever since Open Water scared the cynicism out of the Sundance crowd in January, experts predi - Peter Travers

Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
Rarely, but sometimes, a movie can have an actual physical effect on you. It gets under your defense - Roger Ebert