Tommy Wirkola. A sort of legend in the horror genre, isn’t he? I’m not a huge fan of the Dead Snow films, though I admit they are highly entertaining. A few years ago, he also gave us the ultra-violent and very entertaining film I Onde Dager (The Trip in English), starring Noomi Rapace, Aksel Hennie, and Atle Antonsen.
Today, he’s swapped the Norwegian countryside for hurricanes and sharks in an American coastal town in South Carolina. I’m approaching this film with no particular expectations, but at the same time, I’m really hoping it will be as entertaining as it looks. I love shark movies, even if there are few memorable ones. Deep Blue Sea is a nonsensical film, but it remains fantastically entertaining. We don’t even need to mention Jaws. A classic. And I found The Meg to be really enjoyable, provided you’re prepared for what you’re getting: an angry Statham fighting a monstrous shark. It’s fun, folks.
A quick word on the plot. You’ve already grasped the essence of it. It doesn’t require more than a few sentences. Abbreviated and translated: When a Category 5 hurricane devastates a coastal town, the storm surge brings with it destruction, chaos, and something far more terrifying: hungry sharks.
You get the picture. This isn’t kitchen sink realism. Because kitchen sinks get swept away by the flood. Thrash doesn’t drag its feet. It builds the plot and tension as one would expect from a disaster movie. I think Thrash is relatively stylish. It makes do with simple means. We find ourselves in flooded cabins, in flooded streets. The sharks are competently animated. It’s not a feast for the eyes, but it doesn’t make you angry either.
The dialogue is what you’d expect from this kind of film. The acting is much the same. There won’t be Oscar nominations, but we are spared the Razzies. Everyone does a decent job. In fact, I think that sums up Thrash well. You know what you’re getting, and if you don’t expect anything more, you’ll be satisfied. It’s a bit like a bag of mixed candy. You want the raspberries and the licorice, but you end up putting an orange candy in your mouth from time to time. It’s not brilliant, but it works.
There are a few scenes that offer a bit more spice. There are some decent shark attacks, but nothing that stands out. Nothing surprising. It’s bloody, but it feels like they’re holding back a little. I can imagine that Wirkola, who has previously been allowed to go wild with violence, was tied to the director’s and editor’s chairs. There’s a scene where one of the main characters is supposed to throw ‘vibrating things’ into the water, and I immediately think: ‘I know Wirkola would have wanted to include a vibrator here, but Netflix said no, it’ll be an electric toothbrush.’
I’ve always had a soft spot for Djimon Hounsou. But he doesn’t get enough screen time. Despite my reservations and the fact that I have to keep my expectations in check so as not to get my hopes too high for the next great shark action movie (is that a genre? Well, it is now!), I like Thrash. It offers nothing particularly new. It’s not scary or overly thrilling, but it’s entertaining enough for me to sit down and be grateful to watch sharks feast on meat on a Friday night in 2026.
If I could make a wish out loud, I’d love to see some kind of cross between this film, Jaws, and Deep Blue Sea. But with stylistic effects, more tension, and non-stop gore. And an LL Cool J who could say something cool like ‘You ate my bird’.