Open Water (film): Difference between revisions

{{short description|2003 American survival horrorfound thrillerfootage horror film by Chris Kentis}}

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| studio = [[Lionsgate Films|Lions Gate Films]] <br>Plunge Pictures LLC <br>Eastgate Pictures

| distributor = [[Lionsgate Films|Lions Gate Films]]

| country = United States

| budget = $120,000-500,000

'''''Open Water''''' is a 2003 American [[survival film|survival]] [[horror film|horror]] [[thriller film]]. The story concerns around an American couple who go [[scuba diving]] while on vacation, only to find themselves stranded miles from shore in shark-infestedfilled waters when the crew of their boat accidentally leaves them behind.

The film is loosely based on the true story of [[Disappearance of Tom and Eileen Lonergan|Tom and Eileen Lonergan]], who in 1998 went out with a [[scuba diving]] group, Outer Edge Dive Company, on the [[Great Barrier Reef]], and were accidentally left behind because the dive-boat crew failed to take an accurate headcount.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hotpress.com/archive/2752868.html |title=''Open Water'' |last=Brady |first=Tara |date=13 September 2004 |work=[[Hot Press|hotpress.com]] |access-date=October 1, 2012 |archive-date=5 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205205904/http://hotpress.com/archive/2752868.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cdnn.info/industry/i040523/i040523.html| title= Hollywood's 'Open Water' film earns rave reviews|work=cdnn.info|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012030124/http://www.cdnn.info/industry/i040523/i040523.html|archive-date=October 12, 2008}}</ref>

The film was financed by the husband and wife team of writer/director [[Chris Kentis]] and producer [[Laura Lau]], both avid scuba divers.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Bonin |first=Liane |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,678290,00.html2004/08/07/open-water-new-jaws/ |title=''Open Water'': The new ''Jaws''? |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly|EW]] |date=2004-08-07 |access-date=2013-03-28 |archive-date=2012-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019090841/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,678290,00.html |url-status=deadlive }}</ref> It cost $120,000{{Citation needed|reason=sources say $500,000|date=May 2021}} to make and was bought by [[Lions Gate Entertainment]] for $2.5 million after its screening at the [[Sundance Film Festival]]. Lions Gate spent a further $8 million on distribution and marketing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2004/OPENW.php |title=Open Water - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information |publisher=The Numbers |access-date=2010-08-20 |archive-date=2013-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216045344/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2004/OPENW.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The film ultimately grossed $55.5 million worldwide (including $30 million from the North American box office alone).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=openwater.htm |title=Open Water (2004) |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=2010-08-20 |archive-date=2018-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831105040/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=openwater.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Before filming began, the Lonergans' experience was re-created for an episode of ABC's ''[[20/20 (US television series)|20/20]]'', and the segment was repeated after the release of ''Open Water''. Clips from the film were also featured on NBC in "Troubled Waters", a ''[[Dateline NBC|Dateline]]'' episode (July 7, 2008) with [[Matt Lauer]] interviewing two professional divers, Richard Neely and Ally Dalton, who were left adrift at the Great Barrier Reef by a dive boat on May 21, 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/25574421wbna25574421 |title=Transcript of ''Troubled Waters'' |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=2008-07-07 |access-date=2013-03-28 |archive-date=2014-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019203215/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25574421/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Daniel Kintner and Susan Watkins are frustrated that their hard-working lives do not allow them to spend much time together. They decide to go on a [[Scuba diving|scuba-diving]] vacation to help improve their relationship. On their second day, they join a group scuba dive. A head count is taken, and the passenger total is recorded as 20. Daniel and Susan decide to separate briefly from the group while underwater. Half an hour later, the group returns to the boat; two members of the group are inadvertently counted twice, so the dive master thinks that everyone is back on board, and the boat leaves the site. However, Daniel and Susan are still underwater, unaware that the others have returned to shore. When they resurface, the boat has gone. They believe that the group will soon return to recover them.

Stranded at sea, it slowly dawns on Daniel and Susan that their boat is not coming back for them. They bicker, battle bouts of hunger and mental exhaustion, and realize that they have probably drifted far from the dive site. They also realize that [[shark]]s have been circling them below the surface. Soon, [[jellyfish]] appear, stinging them both, while sharks come in close. Susan receives a small shark bite on the leg, but does not immediately realize it. Daniel goes under and discovers a small fish feeding on the exposed flesh of her bite wound. Later, a shark bites Daniel, and the wound begins to bleed profusely. Susan removes her weight belt and uses it to apply pressure to Daniel's wound, but he appears to go into shock. After night falls, sharks return and attack Daniel during a storm, killing him. The next morning, Daniel and Susan's belongings are finally noticed on the boat by a crew member, and he realizes that they must have been left at the dive site. A massive search for the couple begins immediately.

Susan realizes that Daniel is dead and releases him into the water, where sharks pull him down in a feeding frenzy. After putting on her mask, she looks beneath the surface and sees several large sharks now circling her. Susan looks around one last time for any sign of coming rescue. Seeing none, she removes her scuba gear and goesdisappears underwater to drown beforebelow the sharkswater. can attack.Sometime Elsewherelater, a fishing crew cutcuts open a newly caught shark's stomach, finding a diving camera (apparently that of Daniel and Susan). One of the fishermen asksstates offhandedly to another, "Wonder if it works?."

* Michael E. Williamson as Davis

* Estelle Lau as Affected-Ear Diver

The filmmakers used live sharks, as opposed to the mechanical ones used in ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' or the [[computer-generated imagery|computer-generated]] fish in ''[[Deep Blue Sea (1999 film)|Deep Blue Sea]]''. The film strives for authentic [[Ethology|shark behavior]], shunning the stereotypical exaggerated shark behavior typical of many films. The movie was shot on [[digital video]]. As noted above, the real-life events that inspired this story took place in the southern [[Pacific Ocean]], and this film moves the location to the [[Atlantic Ocean]], being filmed in [[The Bahamas]], the [[United States Virgin Islands]], the [[Grenadines]], and [[Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374102/|title=Open Water (2003)|work=[[Internet Movie Database]]|access-date=30 May 2012|archive-date=22 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222083601/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374102/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Deborah |last=Sontag |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/01/movies/film-a-couple-go-for-a-morning-dive.html |title=A Couple Go For a Morning Dive... |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=2004-08-01 |access-date=2013-03-28 |archive-date=2014-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018142743/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/01/movies/film-a-couple-go-for-a-morning-dive.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the audition, Chris Kentis and Laura Lau made it clear to Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis that they would be workingwork with real sharks in the film and that it was non-negotiable. "So I was like 'okay, that's fine' and I hadn't been offered the part or anything yet, and then when I was offered the part, that had already been negotiated," said Blanchard.<ref>{{cite web |title=Open Water: An Interview with Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis |work=www.blackfilm.com |url=http://www.blackfilm.com/20040813/features/openwater.shtml |access-date=5 August 2022 |archive-date=26 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926005101/http://www.blackfilm.com/20040813/features/openwater.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

''Open Water'' received mostly positive reviews. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 196 reviews with an average rating of 6.57/10. The consensus reads: "A low -budget thriller with some intense moments."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/open_water/ |title=Open Water |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=2013-03-28 |archive-date=2013-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122194533/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/open_water/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film holds a score of 63 out of 100, based on reviews from 38 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/open-water |title=Open Water |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=8 October 2017 |archive-date=3 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103192618/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/open-water |url-status=live }}</ref>

Most critics praised the film for its intensity and minimalist filmmaking, whilealthough it was not as well -received by the audienceaudiences. Writing in the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', [[Roger Ebert]] praised the film highly: "Rarely, but sometimes, a movie can have an actual physical effect on you. It gets under your defenses and sidesteps the 'it's only a movie' reflex and creates a visceral feeling that might as well be real".<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/open-water-2004 |title= Open Water, ''Chicago Sun-Times'', August 6, 2004 |work= [[Rogerebert.com]] |date= 2004-08-06 |author= Roger Ebert |author-link= Roger Ebert |access-date= 2013-03-28 |archive-date= 2014-03-08 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140308180326/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/open-water-2004 |url-status= live }}</ref> In a much less favorable review, [[A. O. Scott]] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' lamented that it "succeeds in mobilizing the audience's dread, but it fails to make us care as much as we should about the fate of its heroes".<ref>{{cite news |first=A. O. |last=Scott |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/06/movies/06WATE.html |title=Hanging With Sharks, at Their Dinner Hour |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=2004-08-06 |access-date=2013-03-28 |archive-date=2013-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130223004355/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/06/movies/06WATE.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

''Open Water'' was made for a budget recorded by [[Box Office Mojo]] foras $120,000, grossed $1 million in 47 theaters on its opening weekend, and made a lifetime gross of $55 million.<ref>[https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=openwater.htm Open Water statistics at Boxofficemojo.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831105040/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=openwater.htm |date=2018-08-31 }}. ''[[Box Office Mojo]]''</ref>

In 2006, a film marketed as a sequel titled ''[[Open Water 2: Adrift]]'' was released, although its plot is unrelated to ''Open Water''.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} A third film in the series titled, ''[[Open Water 3: Cage Dive]]'' was released in 2017, following the first film's plot of being a survival [[List of natural horror films#Sharks|shark film]], although unrelated in continuitystory-wise.

* {{AmgAllMovie movietitle|301382}}