Shark Movie Review: The Requin (2022)

The Requin - Voulez vous pour nager avec moi ce soir?

The relative success, both financially and in viewing figures, of shark films in recent times has led to a slew of new releases in the sub-genre of shark films. The Meg in particular was aimed at a much wider audience than usual, namely the Chinese market as well as the Western market, and grossed $530 million in total. Whilst it wasn't particularly well received critically, it has spawned at least one sequel that is due out in 2023 and no doubt will create more should the first sequel perform well.

One of the new generation of claimants to Jaws' crown as king of the shark films is the 2022 release The Requin, also known as From Below. The film takes its name from the French word for shark. I can only assume this is because most of the films with the word 'shark' in them had already been done. When I was writing a list of films that I can cover for these reviews, roughly half of them had the word shark in them. Calling the film The Requin is possibly a way to set itself apart from those other films whilst still making it clear what the film is about, at least to anyone with a knowledge of French words for sea life.

It certainly cannot be due to an association of shark attacks with France. The website sharkattackdata.com lists seven fatal and non-fatal unprovoked attacks since 1700. One of those attacks was in 1956 in the Mozambique Channel, situated between Mozambique and Madagascar in Southern Africa. It may well be referring to the island of Mayotte which is a French overseas territory. Another was in 2014, off Wallis island (of Wallis and Futuna), an overseas territory in Oceania. There is an additional attack listed on 'males (wearing armour)' from an unknown time with the species being listed as 'possibly white sharks.' The website also lists three provoked attacks, a boating collision and two reports that later turned out to be invalid, meaning that there was probably no incident or injuries were not down to a shark. Excluding the two invalid listings, that leaves us with twelve incidents concerning sharks in France and it's overseas territories.

For some context, the United Kingdom has 16 unprovoked attacks listed since 1785 and a total of 38 incidents, excluding invalid listings. The state of Florida has 931 listings excluding invalid incidents. France is even less of a fatal shark attack hotbed than the UK, which is saying something when the UK has none of the 'fatal four' (a phrase I've invented for this review), namely great whites, tigers, bulls and oceanic whitetips, currently swimming in it's waters. France borders the Mediterranean Sea which does have great whites and oceanic whitetips swimming in it, contrary to what many people have insisted to me.

As a side note, the last confirmed fatal incident involving a shark in UK waters was on 1st August 1956. Leslie Nye and Richard Kirby were killed and two others were injured when attempting to drive a shark away from their boat. The previous day, a diver had encountered a shark, allegedly a porbeagle, that he felt was behaving aggressively. The shark was in fact scared off by bubbles given off by one of the divers.

The following day, when attempted to dive again, the boat was circled by a shark. The men in the boat decided they would either have to scare the shark or kill it and so attached 14oz of explosives to a rope, which they managed to throw over the shark's fin. Unfortunately for the men in the boat, the shark then swam towards them and the explosives detonated when the shark was under the boat. The explosion killed Nye and Kirby. Local rumours abounded that the exploding shark was actually a cover up as the Navy was testing explosives at the time (the First Cold War was nearing peak tensions).

On the subject of the First Cold War, 1956 was also the year that France completed it's military withdrawal from it's former colony Vietnam. And Vietnam is the setting for this film (yes, I know it's a very tenuous link). The Vietnamese for shark is actually cá mập - pronounced ka mup. Vietnam's entry on sharkattackdata.com only lists a total of 14 incidents, one of which was fatal when a ship sunk in 1868 and some of the survivors were taken by sharks. It would be fair to say then that the link between Vietnam and shark attacks is possibly even more tenuous than the one I just made. It's certainly as tenuous as the link between France and shark attacks.

Newspaper report from the West Briton newspaper about the exploding shark

As is fairly common with shark attack films, there is a small cast. In the trailer that I watched before seeing the film, there are only two people, namely Alicia Silverstone and James Tupper playing a husband and wife who are on a romantic getaway together. The trailer pretty much gives away the plot of the film. Knowing already what is going to happen this feels like as good a time as any to see whether the film is worth watching or if the trailer is the only morsel worth savouring.

Plot

Our film begins with opening credits, a smoky backdrop and some melancholy music. There is a small cast listed for this film, confirming what I suspected from the trailer. The smokiness makes way for some water and what I originally thought was a shot of the moon but was actually the belly of a pregnant lady. A scream introduces us to Alicia Silverstone, awakened by the visions of the belly. She steps outside her bedroom, leaving her sleeping partner, and we see a lovely ocean view. However, since this is the 21st century, Alicia scrolls through her phone instead of looking.

Her partner awakens and they ask each other why they are awake. It sounds as though the pair are on holiday and Alicia (still haven’t been told her name) has some symptoms of anxiety. She extols the benefits of social media trolls and their pearls of wisdom but her husband James Tupper is having none of it. One of the trolls even asks whether her husband is even around to grieve which I’m guessing means the couple suffered a miscarriage. To be fair to the film, it’s given a perfect illustration of some of my own reasons for disliking social media so I’ll give it some credit there.

James Tupper (sorry, still don’t know their names) says he is social just not in a media kinda way and even offers to join social media if Alicia Silverstone thinks it will help. She dismisses the idea and James Tupper reminds her that they are actually where they are for the views and the nothingness. They do have a lovely view to be fair.

We get a whistle stop tour of the local area replete with badminton, aerial shots of an idyllic beach and huts and some of the locals going about their daily routine. Finally, I learn that Alicia Silverstone goes by the moniker of Jaelyn in the film. Kyle is the name of James Tupper’s character. We also see a little more of Vietnam and it’s past, including the story of a 14 year old girl who took up arms against the French and became a national hero - a sort of Jean of Arc who fought against Jean’s compatriots. The Vietnamese people had a very tough time in the 20th century but I’ve only ever heard very positive things about the people, the culture and the country. So far, this film is doing a good job of confirming that viewpoint.

Jaelyn calls her mum and sister and we get some foreshadowing when her sister asks if their hotel room just above the water is safe. Jaelyn seems a little anxious although that could be down to the factors mentioned earlier. Her family are supportive and wish her a fun holiday. Her mum mentions that her dad is on his fifth day of no carbs and is horrible for it. From my own experience I can confirm that this is accurate. I was probably at my most unpleasant when doing something similar.

Speaking of unpleasant, we cut to a storm being reported on the telly. The newsreader may be speaking Vietnamese but we all know what this means for our story. For now though, there are clear skies and Kyle dives into the ocean in very close proximity to what looks like a jellyfish. You might want to be a bit more aware of what is in there, Kyle. Jaelyn won’t leave her phone alone and is still going on about the Wi-Fi. Finally, Kyle pulls her in and they enjoy an underwater smooch which presumably tastes really salty.

There are some nice shots of a reef but the shots of the couple swimming amongst it aren’t the best looking. You can tell that some have been done with computer graphics, a strange choice given the fact that there are other shots of them which seem natural. There is a nice variety of wildlife under the water but we don’t stay down there long.

The couple perch on a rock but Kyle cuts his foot on some coral. Jaelyn starts getting flashbacks to bloody water and the pregnant belly and is visibly upset by what she has seen. She does seem to be having a difficult time coming to terms with what has happened and the couple are actually quite sympathetic characters and I do actually find myself rooting for them, an unusual state for somebody as cynical about love stories in films as I am. I wasn’t necessarily expecting any emotional depths to this film - I thought it was going to be more of a schlocky, paint by numbers shark attack film.

The storm, both metaphorical and physical, arrives and begins to lash at the their hotel room. We hear a bang but the couple seem unconcerned. The hotel ring to reassure them and offer them a new room but they decide against it. They settle down again as the storm picks up and the ocean gets choppier. Suddenly there is water in the room, water at the windows, water everywhere 8n fact. It looks as though the hotel room has become detached from the pier and has floated off. Swaying from side to side, the bed mimics Leslie Nielson’s coffin in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and crushes Kyle. Unlike Renfield however, Kyle is not okay. His leg is badly hurt. After a little Matrix moment, Jaelyn is also hurt, getting knocked out on the floor for a few seconds. When she wakes, she confirms the worst - they are moving away from land.

They decide that they should swim for it, Kyle still yelling at the beach. I’m not sure what he can see because I can’t see anything and he’s actually in the storm. Maybe he just likes yelling. By now, Jaelyn is dangling out a window and Kyle tells her to trust him. He lets go and she swims underneath the floating room, saving her from being crushed against some rocks.

We get a bit of a jump scare when she gets back to the room, now smashed against the rocks, and Jaelyn tries to find Kyle, who grabs at her as she goes past rather than just replying. Jaelyn wants to wait on the rock but Kyle wants to stay on their floating room as he can’t move with his leg.

Morning comes and the couple awaken to find they’ve magically drifted back to land and they’re safe and sound. I jest. They’ve actually broken free of the rock and are now floating somewhere in the middle of the ocean. With no sight of land the couple begin to argue remarkably quickly with

Jaelyn angry that they didn’t get on to the rock. I’m not sure how everybody back on land could possibly have missed a whole hotel room disappearing though so by now there must be search and rescue teams looking for them. They decide to swim for it and set about collecting what they might need, quite a bit of which is conveniently stuck to the bottom of the room. Whoever said littering was bad?

Jaelyn recovers water and a bag. The camera pans down to some rising bubbles but we see nothing more. She fetches some more items but a musical jump tells us she is not alone. Suddenly there are fish swimming at her and surfaces, hanging off the side of the room for a moment before pulling herself up. Kyle tries to keep their spirits up and makes the point that they are visible and, whilst I know it would be a crap film if they just got picked up soon after, in that situation things could be a lot worse. However, Kyle’s blood is trickling into the ocean, a sign of things to come perhaps. At least they get to see a pretty sunset.

Jaelyn tries to signal a plane that looks a little like a shark from a distance. It hadn’t occurred to me before but, then again, why would it? It’s not like sharks can fly. Oh wait, there is a film called Sky Sharks which uses that exact premise. Having had Kyle’s balls burned by the sun shining through a bottle, the couple use that idea to create smoke to try and attract attention. The sun is too low though and their efforts were for nothing.

The next morning, Jaelyn tries again with a passing ship and they finally get ignition but they overdo it and the room is suddenly ablaze. They leave their flaming, floating sanctuary and dive into the ocean, Kyle leaving a trail of blood behind him. At this point, we are 49 minutes in to the film and have not seen any sign of a shark. There’s no sign of the ship either.

A minute later, the couple are floating in the ocean exhausted and we finally look to be getting what we were promised from the promotional posters, although the small fin we see Jaelyn getting spooked by would not be proportionate to the almost comically oversized shark we see on those posters. Kyle checks underwater and says he see it although we only actually see a silhouette and a fin.

More fins appear and we finally get to see the terrifying creature that was approaching them - a dolphin. I had an inclination that is what they were seeing and I’m disappointed I was able to call it before the reveal. We see a whole pod skimming through the waves and now the couple are on a raft and safer than before.

The couple have a heart to heart about their issues and whilst I am still rooting for them I just want to see a sodding shark. I was promised sharks by the promotional poster and the name. I respect the issues at play here and, as I said earlier, I’ve been surprised by the fact that the film bothered to explore such things but too much melodrama can detract from these types of films - just ask Jaws: The Revenge.

59 (FIFTY NINE) minutes in to the film and things may be about to change. Kyle’s permadripping leg is leaving another blood trail and the raft they’re on has been bumped. Suddenly the raft split and a fin appears. A smaller than expected great white appears. Finally. Almost an hour in we see our first shark. And my oh my does it look crap.

It tips Kyle into the water and we realise that there is more than one of these predators in the water. Jaelyn jumps in screaming (to be fair, she’s spent a sizeable chunk of the film doing this). At least

the sharks we sometimes see are real sharks. Jaelyn is actually playing the tough role too, stabbing and battering the sharks with a sharp piece of wood she has to hand - an unusual twist although I suppose she has demonstrated her bravery with the miscarriage storyline.

Kyle resurfaces and she tries to paddle them both away. We see multiple, quite small fins which vanish suddenly and just leave them be. Night falls and I’m starting to wonder what the hell is going on. Kyle is bleeding, weak and dangling off the side of the raft yet has been left untouched since the initial attack.

Jaelyn suddenly sees land and stands up in her excitement. However, she notices that Kyle’s legs have been bitten off. Kyle isn’t waking up and Jaelyn struggle to haul him onto the land she has found. She remembers the miscarriage again and falls unconscious. Whilst unconscious she hallucinates that Kyle is okay and has all four limbs intact. He tells her to live and that life is inside her. He then stands and what I’m guessing is a shark smashes into him from the side. This is starting to descend.

Back in waking life, Jaelyn sees Kyle’s body floating before two sharks pull him under. She realises she is in the water too, walking amongst a CGI coral reef with its own CGI shark. The shark attacks her, mauling her leg but she bashes it in the eye with some coral sending the shark skedaddling. She makes it back to a beach before collapsing again.

We enter another dreamy phase and Jaelyn comes across some rocks which she begins to climb. On the other side is a fisherman. She swims over to him, seemingly having forgotten about the sharks but makes it successfully. The fisherman is not waking immediately despite the racket she is making but when he does, he offers to help sort her wounds (I think). She screams some more but the fisherman seems to have done the trick.

He dives to collect his pots but a large shadow swims between the camera and the fisherman as he does so. There is another bump on the boat and Jaelyn begins screaming for him to get out. A severed hand (I assume it was the fisherman’s but it’s not exactly the same as a passport photo) surfaces and Jaelyn screams a bit more. Suddenly, the fisherman surfaces but, upon grabbing Jaelyn for help, actually drags her into the ocean with him. She climbs the anchor rope to re-enter the boat with the fisherman following but he is mauled by a large great white, one that is actually approaching the sort of size promised. She goes to fight it off but isn’t quick enough and a fake, barely moving shark pulls him under.

Jaelyn hauls the anchor up but spots the large CGI shark coming for her. We get the obligatory screaming before she gets a DIY propeller to start and whisks the shark as it puts its head above the water. She screams some more and the shark leaves momentarily. However, it must be annoyed and out for revenge (as we all know, sharks actually do take things personally) as it is coming back for seconds. Jaelyn watches the fin go under and wonders where it’s gone.

We then get an unintentionally comic moment when the shark rises like Daley Thompson out of the water and tries to Bruce itself onto the boat, getting a partial connection. Naturally, this shot is intersected by a shot of Jaelyn screaming. The boat is overturned and Jaelyn is trapped underneath with the shark now circling below. The shark speeds towards her as she wraps the rope of the anchor around herself. Screaming (because), she watches the shark open it’s mouth and awaits the killer blow. It doesn’t arrive. The shark has bitten the anchor which is now protruding from its eye and mouth (not sure about the practicalities of that one) and it twitches mechanically for a moment

before sinking into the darkness. With a scream, Jaelyn pulls the rope off the boat to prevent it sinking with the leviathan attached to the other end and she clambers on top. The boat drifts past a fishing village and Jaelyn and is finally rescued.

Ratings

Quality of the shark/s: I liked the use of real sharks but they weren't used often. Some of the sharks looked a little odd too as they seemed to have spots. I can't score this too highly however as I dislike computer graphics in my creature features. It's difficult for me to believe when I see it. I was considering whether to score this worse than Cruel Jaws. In the end I decided to score it a little higher than the 3 I gave Cruel Jaws but that is down to that film stealing from other films and using dolphins more than anything I liked about the CGI sharks in Requin.

The way the boss shark died at the end was a bit too ridiculous. If you are too stupid to realise you're chewing on an anchor then perhaps you deserve to have it poke your eye out. There was also a point when a shark dragged the fisherman under the water whilst not actually moving, which is Cruel Jaws levels of crap.

On the plus side, there were some decent moments. The shark mauling Jaelyn's leg looked okay (CGI aside) and the large shark near the end looked fearsome enough. The real sharks were good but did also confirm what we could learn from The Reef, namely they are scary enough. Why exaggerate or use CGI?

4/10

Underwater Photography: This had it's moments. I would have liked to see a bit more of it however. We had a nice variety of fish and other wildlife as well as some shots of a reef. My major complaint is that there wasn't more footage. A lot of these films do have some wonderful underwater footage and it can really add to the film if done correctly.

A minor complaint is the CGI bit with the couple swimming around the coral. It was a strange choice to make considering the other shots looked natural and comparatively it looked fake.

7/10

Suspense: I felt that the amount of time it took for us to actually see some sharks really detracted from this. It almost felt to me at one point that the sharks are an incidental part of the film and that the main focus is the couple drifting along in the detached room for quite a while. I was starting to lose interest in the film as it took so long. Never a good sign.

I'm also disappointed that I was able to call that the couple were being surrounded by dolphins. If one of the moments of suspense is so easy to call it really takes away the power of any other moments the film is trying to build up to. Also, this isn't the first film that has used the dolphin trick as The Reef did it too (much better). At this point I'm starting to wonder if I'll have to review Flipper because of Scar the Hammerhead.

When I audibly say 'about time' to myself upon the first shark attack, its fair to say any suspense has been killed off for me so I can't score too high for this. I suppose the dangling legs in the ocean added to the apprehension a little but for plenty of the film the couple were not in the ocean.

3/10

Characters and Story: The characters were one of the stronger aspects. As I mentioned when discussing the plot, I was genuinely surprised that the writers went for such a heavy subject as the subplot so credit to them for that. I felt they attempted to handle the subject with care too. However, there are perhaps better contexts to explore these issues in.

Jaelyn screamed way too much and I doubt there was much of a script to read, particularly for the second half of the film. I did want them to both come out the other side for a while though and I felt they were a believable couple.

The story was alright but, as with a lot of these films, it is difficult to have a meaningful tale when a lot of it is set out at sea. I suppose the way they ended up out there in the first place was a bit different. Why though did they not just put out the fire they made? And why did they not swim for it as they planned to?

4/10

Watchability: There is enough going to keep some attention throughout although I got frustrated with how slow the story was. There is nothing that is truly terrible but there is nothing to set it apart from other shark films in a good way either.

2/5

Other factors: I'm not sure if the shark launching itself out of the water near the end of the film was a reference to Bruce's assault on the Orca but I'll give it a point either way. However, nothing else really stood out for me.

1/5
Total – 21/50

This film was just a bit meh. Not terrible, not great. From a reviewing point of view it's been the hardest to write about so far. Terrible films have loads to take the piss out of whilst good films have a lot to praise. This was just mediocre. The sharks looked like they'd come from a schlocky low budget film and by the time they appeared I was feeling relief rather than tension. I'm not saying each shark film needs a Chrissie Watkins style opening and I don't think that would've worked in this film as it wants to create the image of an idyll. There just didn't feel like a great deal of jeopardy to me even when the hotel room had floated out into the sea. I mean, how the hell can that not be spotted?

I don't think you can quite take everything from this film just from what you see in the trailer although I was pretty close in guessing what would happen. The characters are decent enough albeit with little growth but as I'm watching these films as specifically shark films, waiting an hour for an

appearance is unacceptable. If you wish to wait that long, please don't name the film after sharks or have a large great white (that we don't actually see until the final few minutes) on the posters.

You may be surprised that I scored it lower than Mako if you have actually seen both films (of course, you may think it's justified). I did consider this when I totted up the scores but I think the tone of both films must be taken into account. Mako is not necessarily trying to be a serious film and it is impossible to take it seriously when Sonny is talking to a couple of sharks named Matilda and Sammy. The Requin on the other hand is trying to be a serious film. It has the serious backstory of a horrific experience with miscarriages and sees the couple involved fighting for survival in desperate circumstances. Whilst they do joke to try and keep their spirits up it is due to that serious situation that they are behaving like that (although you may get a titter out of the jokes which do at least break the bleak mood when used). Mako achieves what it sets it to be, which is a ridiculous film about shark whispering. The Requin doesn't quite manage to do what it wanted to.

This film is worth watching for something to do but, for my money, it won't be going into the pantheon of brilliant creature features. If the action and attacks were paced better then I could see this film being better. Perhaps the couple become trapped in their floating room and the large shark begins circling. Trapped, they have to try and keep the shark at bay as bit by bit it destroys their sanctuary. The gradual dismantling of the safe place would build the tension until finally they are forced to enter the water and face off with the shark. That could even happen as they are about to be rescued, giving you the option of one or both of the people being killed and/or the shark too.

I've never seen death by anchor before but it also wasn't too dissimilar to the ending of The Shallows. Kudos at least for not blowing the shark up but it still wasn't that imaginative. On the whole perhaps that sums up my feelings towards the film in general. This review is in fact a lot kinder than plenty of the reviews I read on IMDB so I'd advise not to go into this one with high hopes.

Words by Jamie Tingle

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