To put it bluntly – GREAT WHITE is killer, literally and figuratively!
As we all should know by now, it’s never safe to go back into the water. Danger is always lurking beneath the calm blue seas. Sharks are everywhere. Just look at Seaside Heights, New Jersey as one of the most recent Great White Shark hot spots! New Jersey? Who would have thought!
But thanks to director Martin Wilson and screenwriter Michael Boughen, we’re nowhere near NJ with GREAT WHITE. Wilson takes us to the other side of the globe to the beautiful blue crystalline waters off the coast of North Queensland Australia. Paradise. Or so we think.
Kaz and Charlie, together with their friend Benny, run a seaplane charter business. An up-and-comer now, they have big dreams for their little company. Although not quite ready to be taking on charter passengers at the moment, they do need the money, so Charlie reluctantly agrees to take new customers Joji and Michelle on an island trip, a trip that is very important to the elegantly dressed (silk blouse and heels and toting a Chanel handbag for a trip to a sandy beach on a small island) Michelle.
Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned on the island or in the air. A gruesome discovery causes panic in all, and urgency in Charlie, Benny, and Kaz. But while airborne again, something goes wrong with the plane and it crashes into the ocean. Miles from shore, with no food or fresh water, and holding on for dear life to an inflatable life raft, sniping takes priority to survival as everyone plays the blame game. But it’s not long before a greater enemy surfaces from the darkened depths of the ocean. Killer sharks.
A solidly written script by Boughen focuses on the relationship dynamics of the five as the foundation of the film with the terror of the teeth in the deep circling around that. A wonderful subtext to GREAT WHITE comes with tacit metaphoric commentary on man’s relationship with the earth and the oceans. Much like the depths of the ocean itself, there is more than meets the eye with GREAT WHITE.
Using all of the tools in the cinematic toolbox in collaboration with his department heads, director Martin Wilson delivers a film that serves as a gripping character study of a rather disparate group of people, and by extension taps into the very essence of human nature, fueled by a life-threatening situation. Thanks to the work of cinematographer Tony O’Loughlan and editor Lawrie Silvestrin, in true Hitchcockian fashion, we are placed in the life raft with our survivors; disoriented, often self-absorbed, ever fearful of the lurking sharks below, as well as of each other.
Being a very small ensemble cast working in a very contained and claustrophobic space – a small octagonal life raft – set against an endless ocean, strong performances are requisite for this film and that starts with Katrina Bowden and Aaron Jakubenko as Kaz and Charlie, respectively. Kudos to Wilson with casting Jakubenko as he looks and feels and fits the part of the dreamer outdoorsman planning his business but still with a kind of college frat boy with his attitude – until things go to hell. Then we see a marvelous growth and shift in Charlie’s character as he takes responsibility and knows how to keep his eye on the ball and pick his battles with some of the other survivors.
Also strong is Te Kohe Tuhaka as Benny. Tuhaka gives Benny grounding and emotional strength that is beyond believable. But then put him toe-to-toe with Tim Kano as arrogant pain-in-the-butt Joji and see the sparks fly. Kimie Tsukakoshi is an interesting addition to the cast, but watching the strength of her performance as Michelle exhibits noticeable resonant emotional growth from the clueless, under-Joji’s-thumb woman we first meet. And it allows for some strong scenes between Tsukakoshi and Bowden.
These five personalities provide the perfect opportunity for human drama and conflict which drives the film with the sharks almost playing second fiddle; that is until blood is shed and the body count rises.
Tony O’Loughlan’s cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful. I’ve seen some of his work before with films like “Occupation” and “Drive Hard”, but to see what he does here in GREAT WHITE with widescreen, blue skies, blue water, shining sun and countering that with the claustrophobic forced nature of the seaplane cabin interior and the 360 he continually gives us out on the water with the raft, it not only defines tone and emotion, but by shooting 360 on the water while in the raft, it disorients us watching just as it does with our survivors. At night he embraces the darkness so we get that beautiful negative space where the dark of night and dark of the ocean run together. With just two flashlights and a lantern as the only light sources, stark shadows or suspicion and fear, standout. The visual tonal bandwidth is gorgeous. And underwater photography is delicious.
Having the seaplane kick off the tale allows for stunning aerials of that Queensland coastal blue water and white sandy beaches surrounding an island cluster of trees. But then Wilson and O’Loughlan give us all the water we can handle as we are on the water, in the water, and under the water, all of which fuels the building tension with shark attacks taking us by surprise.
An eye-popping visual treat is some rusted wreckage of a ship off the coast which plays a key part in the third act. Adding to its importance to the story, the contrast of that with the blue water and the white sandy beach less than a mile away gives pause to think about the environment and the oceans.
Editor Lawrie Silvestrin does an exemplary job building the tension, packing in jump-out-of-your-skin shark shocks. Silvestrin knows how and when to hold a shot and when to let the frenzy flow.
One of the most outstanding elements of GREAT WHITE is Tim Count’s scoring. Untraditional and working with sound designer Paul Pirola and his sound team, we hear whale sounds, wind, surf, the lull of calming waves, all blended into the score giving it an almost organic feel like the ebb and flow of the tides.
As for the sharks? Simply killer.
Guaranteed to bite into you with tension, excitement, and adventure, GREAT WHITE is destined to be one of those “go-to” shark films that you’ll dive into time and time again.
Directed by Martin Wilson
Written by Michael Boughen
Cast: Katrina Bowden, Aaron Jakubenko, Kimie Tsukakoshi, Te Kohe Tuhaka, and Tim Kano
by debbie elias, June 22, 2021
GREAT WHITE opens in limited theatrical release and is available On Demand and Digital on July 16.
