In the ever-changing film landscape, we will never escape from killer sharks. This year alone, we have seen a cocaine shark story in Netflix’s Deep Fear, and lurking in the streamer’s waters, we have Under Paris coming this summer, and in the cinema, we get ready for July’s Something in the Water. We are never out swimming sharks, folks, and if we have movies like The Last Breath to look forward to, we, for one, welcome these shark-infested movie waters to come!
Joachim Hedén’s The Last Breath plays out as 47 Meters Down crossed with Ghosts of the Abyss, as independent seafaring duo Levi (the late Julian Sands in his final film role) and Noah (Jack Parr) finally pinpoint the shipwreck of a WWII battleship they have searched endlessly for. But when Noah’s old college pals rock up for a reunion, they push for an impromptu scuba diving trip to this uncharted shipwreck, finding far more than rusted metal awaits them in these Caribbean waters.
Certainly no stranger to the odd convention of the genre (the rich d-bag of the friend group, the blood in water stalking, the logic leaps at times), The Last Breath distinguishes itself with an atmospheric underwater setting and a roster of good characters.
Its breathless thrills play out well, with the shipwreck setting being effectively capitalised on with air pockets, winding corridors and rooms, and sharks almost enclosing the group like a survival video game scenario. It makes for a thrilling approach to this toothy subgenre. The underwater cinematography is well shot, and the audio is remarkably unmarred, giving this a prestige reserved for a lot of bigger budgeted fare that lands on the big screen. The sharks themselves also look menacing and impressive, with the filmmakers never allowing any effects to look false, and the energy of the movie is kept up thanks to the ratcheting suspense that comes with the plot’s escalating dire situations, including dwindling oxygen, injuries and persistent deep sea predators at every exit.
The performances are also rather good, with Sands’ grizzled, knitting, rebellious sailor being a particular highlight. This cinematic send-off is one rather appropriate for the sure-to-be dearly missed English actor in a genre film with a great supporting part that steals the show and with a rather old-school antihero vibe attached to it that Sands gives real-life to. There is also a great lead part by Parr, who is likeable as Noah, a character doing his best despite the desperation that has put him and his friends beneath the waves. Another standout is Kim Spearman as his former girlfriend Kim, who puts her medical training to more use than she ever expected on this dive!
Well-paced and constructed, if not free entirely of some of the setbacks of the genre, The Last Breath is a compelling viewing that keeps you watching, never taking things too far, and delivering a few potential setups, making for some unpredictable directions the film could head. The Last Breath effectively strands you in the rusted vessel on the sea bed, with these characters, as they try and evade their ef(fin)’ deadly captors, and it might just make you savour every gulp of air that bit more.
A shark movie well worth diving into, just keep an eye on that breathing…
THE LAST BREATH is on Digital Platforms and DVD and Blu-ray on June 24th.
