One of the most entertaining shark thrillers in years, ABOVE & BELOW proves that you don’t need camp or schlock to deliver edge-of-your-seat aquatic suspense.
Director Jesse V. Johnson anchors the film with confidence, blending believable characters, tightly constructed action, and genuine underwater tension into a thriller that never loses sight of the fact that sharks are terrifying enough without gimmicks. The result is, quite simply…
SHARKTASTIC.
Building on familiar survival elements that will remind audiences of 47 Meters Down while charting its own course, Anthony Giordano’s screenplay deftly intertwines two sources of danger—drug traffickers above the surface and hungry predators below it with a group of college age kids caught in the middle. Tension is palpable above and below the water with Antonio Banderas’ Burns a driving force while cruising sharks under the water provide ever-present danger. Of course, you may find yourself wondering which is more dangerous – drug trafficker Burns and his two henchmen, Martin and Garrison, or the hungry sharks circling the boat.
Then there’s the film’s amusing, if unintended, running gag involving cell phones. Our 20-something males lose their phones almost immediately, while our heroine Tatiana (and the one in the group with common sense) somehow manages to get enough signal underwater to trigger an SOS ping, and eventually even she loses her phone. I couldn’t help laughing while thinking perhaps those waterproof phone bags need shorter wrist straps—or maybe people should actually use them properly.
What truly elevates ABOVE & BELOW, however, is Matthew Lorentz’s exceptional editing. The transitions between Burns’ increasingly volatile drug operation aboard Captain Logan’s catamaran and the mounting terror beneath the surface are seamless. Rather than allowing one storyline to overshadow the other, Lorentz carefully balances both narratives, building suspense simultaneously until they collide in spectacular fashion. Even more impressive is the deliberate use of negative space underwater. Shadows drift through the blue depths, visibility is limited, and sharks emerge seemingly from nowhere. The shark cage itself becomes an inspired visual centerpiece, transforming from sanctuary to prison as danger closes in from every direction.
However, as gorgeous as the editing is, Maxime Alexandre’s cinematography is the film’s secret weapon.
Long one of my favorite cinematographers—from the moody psychological tension of Maniac and Come Play to the visceral creature horror of Crawl and the emotional resonance of Never Let Go—Alexandre once again demonstrates his remarkable ability to create atmosphere regardless of genre.
Here, he wisely avoids flashy camera work. Instead, he allows the pristine beauty of the Canary Islands to speak for itself. Crystal-clear water, endless blue skies, and brilliant sunlight create an inviting paradise that gradually transforms into a nightmare. Underwater, Alexandre embraces clean compositions and subtle gradations of blue rather than cluttering the frame with excessive particulate matter. The result is startling depth of field, allowing sharks to materialize almost imperceptibly from the distance before exploding into the foreground without warning.
The clarity of the underwater photography also raises an intriguing technical question. Just how much was filmed practically beneath the surface, how much utilized controlled tank work, and where exactly does CGI begin? The integration is so seamless that it’s nearly impossible to tell.
One surprise for me was learning portions of the production were completed at Nu Boyana Studios in Bulgaria, one of my favorite production facilities anywhere in the world. Given everything the studio offers, I often think of Nu Boyana as the modern-day MGM. Building a huge water tank that would accomodate actual depth of more than 30 meters to marry with open sea footage, and which was used for the dive footage for safety purposes, the visual footage is stunning.
The underwater close-ups through the dive masks are another inspired visual choice. Alexandre captures every flicker of fear in Tatiana and Kayle’s eyes while still maintaining the isolation of the deep sea. Meanwhile, the sandy ocean floor constructed within the water tank —with scattered timber, coral formations, and textured rock—provides just enough environmental detail to ground the shark cage and Burns’ submerged cache of drugs within a believable three-dimensional world.
And speaking of sharks…
The CGI here ranks among the finest I’ve ever seen in a shark film. Every movement feels organic, every attack believable, and every encounter carries genuine weight. Combined with outstanding practical blood effects, underwater blood dispersion, and beautifully executed prosthetic work—notably Louis Mandylor’s spectacularly shredded remains after his unfortunate encounter with some very hungry sharks—the effects work consistently impresses. I couldn’t help laughing while wondering whether there was acid in that water to decimate a body like that so quickly.
The action above the surface proves equally satisfying. Johnson stages each gunfight cleanly within the confined spaces of the catamaran, allowing every exchange to remain geographically coherent. When bullets fly, they don’t simply graze; they tear through bodies with brutal efficiency. The explosive finale is especially rewarding, from the destruction of a pursuing police boat with a long-range rifle to a fiery farewell for one character courtesy of gasoline and a flare gun.
And yes…
Tatiana’s knife attack on the shark deserves applause all by itself.
Watching her slice from dorsal fin toward the belly—with an avalanche of partially digested lunches spilling into the water—was gloriously over-the-top in exactly the right way.
Performance-wise, ABOVE & BELOW avoids one of the biggest pitfalls of many shark movies by never asking its cast to play the material as a joke.
Antonio Banderas is deliciously unhinged as Burns. Equal parts calculating drug kingpin, arrogant bully, and wildly unpredictable psychopath, Banderas shifts effortlessly from icy intimidation to mocking condescension in the blink of an eye. Every scene carries the uneasy feeling that Burns might erupt without warning.
Louis Mandylor matches that manic energy as Martin. Having seen Mandylor in numerous films over the years, I honestly can’t recall another performance of his quite this gloriously unbalanced. Martin is a walking powder keg, and Mandylor ensures the audience never knows what insanity will come next.
Jess Liaudin quietly steals scene after scene as Garrison. Initially appearing to be nothing more than Burns’ intimidating enforcer, Liaudin gradually reveals layers through silence rather than dialogue. Garrison watches everything. Thanks to Alexandre’s thoughtful framing, every glance invites us to question where his true loyalties lie. Is he simply a loyal soldier? Is he something more? Liaudin keeps us guessing until the very end.
Timothy Murphy delivers an equally grounded performance as Captain Logan, bringing warmth and authenticity to his interactions with the younger characters while carrying the burden of impossible choices with conviction.
Laura Marano is terrific as Tatiana. Beginning as a carefree party girl, she quickly evolves into the film’s smartest and most resourceful survivor. Calm under pressure, courageous, and remarkably capable, Tatiana becomes someone worth rooting for the moment everything goes sideways.
Ryan Bertroche is a welcome surprise as Danny, while Donncha Tynan continues to impress as TJ. After noticing him previously in Anniversary, it’s exciting to see him continue building such a promising career.
The lone sour note belongs to Diego Llinas’ Kyle—not because of the performance, but because the character is so thoroughly unlikeable. Manipulative, dishonest, irresponsible, and forever expecting Tatiana to rescue him from yet another self-inflicted disaster, Kyle wore out his welcome almost immediately. Even after surviving being shot, I kept hoping his final act of “bravery” would somehow end with Kyle tumbling overboard and becoming chum.
Sadly… No such luck.
But perhaps my only genuine complaint about ABOVE & BELOW is one shared by every devoted shark fan:
There could have been even more sharks. That is a very good problem for a shark movie to have.
ABOVE & BELOW delivers exactly what audiences want from a modern aquatic thriller—strong performances and characters you are invested in, excellent technical craftsmanship, genuinely nerve-racking underwater suspense, spectacular practical and digital effects, and sharks that look and behave like sharks instead of CGI cartoons.
I’ll happily dive back in and watch it again…and again, because ABOVE & BELOW truly is… SHARKTASTIC.
Directed by Jesse V. Johnson
Written by Anthony Steve Giordano
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Laura Marano, Louis Mandylor, Jess Liaudin, Timothy V. Murphy, Christina Ochoa, Donncha Tynan, Ryan Bertroche, Diego Llinas
by debbie elias, 07/17/2026
ABOVE & BELOW is in theatres on July 29th.
