Viewers savage new survival thriller as 'the very worst movie on Netflix'

31 January 2024 , 15:34

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Toothless cocaine-shark thriller Deep Fear on Netflix has been absolutely mauled by viewers and critics, with some proclaiming it a whole new low for the platform.

The unashamed B-movie sees storm-stricken drug felons strong-arm a yachtswoman into rescuing their sunken cocaine stash from shark-infested waters. Think of it as Cocaine Bear crossed with Jaws, except nowhere as good as that sounds.

Starring Hollywood hunk Ed Westwick, perhaps best known for portraying anti-hero and playboy Chuck Bass in smash hit US drama Gossip Girl, the film has topped Netflix charts worldwide - which is incredible considering its embarrassing 13 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an unenviable 4.6 on IMDB.

What's it all about?

Immersed in the Caribbean, Deep Fear purports to be a gripping and visceral survival thriller filled with intense action. Madalina Ghenea plays Naomi, an accomplished solo yachtswoman embarking on a journey to reunite with her boyfriend, Jackson (Ed Westwick), in Grenada. What begins as a serene three-day sail aboard the 47-foot yacht 'The Serenity' takes a dark turn when an unexpected storm forces Naomi off her planned course.

Navigating around an uninhabited reef-fringed island, Naomi responds to a distress signal from a sinking vessel, discovering three survivors clinging to the shattered remains of their boat. However, events take a sinister turn when it is revealed that the survivors are involved in drug trafficking. They coerce Naomi into diving into the hull of the sunken wreck to retrieve a hefty stash of cocaine.

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The situation becomes even more perilous when Naomi finds herself surrounded by man-eating white sharks attracted by the dead bodies in the wreck. In a harrowing and deadly undersea encounter, Naomi must rely on her wits and determination to get through it all.

And by all accounts, the poor viewer has to summon similar courage to make it to the end credits.

'Bad script, bad directing, bad soundtrack, bad pace, awful acting'

IMDB users were quick to savage the movie.

Cristiananton scored it 1/10 saying: "Bad script, bad directing, bad soundtrack, bad pace, awful acting. The CGI of the sharks was the only decent thing in this hard-to-watch movie. In fact, it was so bad it became pure cringe - painful to see. They (the creators) really have no idea what to do and you can see this in every scene of this garbage."

M_massacre2000 posted: "My goodness this was bad. The acting quite sterile, the effects quite cheap, the plot flimsy. The ending ... so, so lame."

Warawacarly went so far as to describe it as 'painful': " It will always be an uphill battle when doing a shark movie as it's been done many times poorly. It's almost always B-rated garbage. This movie was lazy and effortless in many aspects. Don't waste your time."

'It shatters your faith in art created by human beings'

X users were quick to vent their ire on the platform, leaving little room for misinterpretation.

@teroterotero: "Anyone who opposes the role of AI in entertainment - I ask you to watch the first ten minutes of Deep Fear on Netflix. How could AI possibly do worse dialogue? Could CGI actors be more wooden and inhumane? This is such a profoundly bad show it forces philosophical debate. We have all seen bad shows on Netflix. Horrid, even. But Deep Fear represents such a total failure of human creativity and professionalism that it demands that we embrace machine-created content. It shatters your faith in art created by human beings. It makes you crave AI."

@1275m: "Watched Deep Fear last night, never seen such a *terrible* shark horror movie before, it's not even about any shark, it's about getting drugs from a sunken ship by a lady in an oversized red bra".

@CarrieSalikin: "Oh Netflix do better. What on earth did I watch?"