Both films’ trauma-flashback device trivializes real-world trauma.

Shark attack movies, perhaps the largest sect of the animal horror subgenre, are one of the strangest groups of films in cinema history. On one end of the spectrum is Jaws, the original blockbuster often considered one of the best films ever made. On the other end is the never-ending parade of low-budget shark movies the internet adores, like Sharknado and Sharktopus. Between those two poles are the mainstream, non-Jaws films that need to strike a balance between the two. Whereas some films manage to pull off this feat—Deep Blue Sea and The Shallows are probably the best examples—others struggle to find a way to take their aquatic horror seriously without veering into ridiculousness.

2022 is a banner year for fans of shark attack movies, with three mainstream releases so far (The Requin, Shark Bait, The Reef: Stalked) and another on the way later this month (Maneater). Unsurprisingly, each film finds its characters unexpectedly trying to survive at sea as they are attacked by sharks. Surprisingly, both The Requin and The Reef: Stalked feature uncannily similar plot devices in which the ocean recalls past water-based trauma for each film’s protagonist. Though both films employ this device to add dramatic weight to their narratives and endearingly try to metaphorize their sharks as repressed suffering, they unintentionally trivialize their protagonists’ trauma by equating it with schlocky shark attacks.

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Even more surprising than how similar the films are is just how upsetting the traumas that inform the protagonists’ flashbacks are. The Requin’s Jaelyn (Alicia Silverstone) is confronted with visions of suffering a stillbirth in her bathtub. When her husband, Kyle (James Tupper), cuts his foot on coral, the bloody water sends Jaelyn into a panic episode in which she relives the traumatic incident. The Reef: Stalked’s Nic (Teressa Liane) relives finding her sister drowned in a bathtub by her abusive partner. Throughout the film, Nic looks into the water and experiences visions of her sister being drowned. Both films also draw attention to these flashbacks through their visual composition. The Requin’s flashbacks are set on a pitch-black background with hazy steam. The Reef: Stalked’s are filmed in claustrophobic close-ups. Each film, therefore, asserts the flashbacks’ significance through jarring visualization.

Both forms of trauma serve to ground the chomp-centric plots with a degree of sobriety that distances them from the silliness of low-budget schlock. However, whatever solemnity is created is quickly undone when the films unintentionally invoke laughter. While stranded on a coracle, The Requin’s biggest shark leaps out of the water toward Jaelyn. Between the less-than-stellar visual effects and the odd editing that cuts to Silverstone shrieking in between shots of the shark jumping (which makes it appear as though she’s screaming at nothing), the film is overtaken with an intense goofiness. Similarly, in The Reef: Stalked, as the characters attempt to bail water out of their boat, a fully visible shark silhouette zooms towards their boat at near lightning speed. The spotty shark design and confused reaction shots make it nearly impossible not to giggle. Moments like these are so ludicrous that it completely disconnects the viewer from whatever investment they may have had in the protagonists’ stories.

Now, this is not to say that shark movies need to be technical masterpieces in order to be effective. After all, there is some inherent levity in movies based on sharks repeatedly attacking the same group of characters over and over. However, the sillier sequences are especially jarring when considering how seriously the films treat their characters. Films about characters overcoming disturbing traumatic events are definitely not meant to incite involuntary amusement. If The Requin and The Reef: Stalked took a different approach to their characters and their past traumas, preferably a less serious one, unintentionally silly moments wouldn't' be as negatively impactful on the overall movie. Arguably, both movies could simply take shark attacks seriously without trying to scaffold additional layers of horror. No matter how unafraid someone is of the ocean, the prospect of being attacked by a shark is frightening on its own.

In addition to adding dramatic weight, the trauma-based flashbacks also serve to imbue the film with thematic significance. Invoking trauma makes these films about more than just very toothy fish. And yet, the particular traumas thematized in The Requin and The Reef: Stalked are discordant with the narrative proceedings. This is not to say that shark movies should not have deeper meaning. Deep Blue Sea, in fact, is a critical reflection on humanity’s exploitation of nature. In that film, though, the narrative harmonizes with the ideas the film explores. It is far more difficult to find a throughline that connects birthing trauma or domestic violence with sharks. This results in the films feeling like they are misusing real-world trauma rather than incorporating it authentically.

Finding the aforementioned throughline would require thinking about the sharks at a symbolic level. The sharks in both films are metaphors for the repressed trauma each character must conquer. Overcoming the shark and surviving the attack symbolizes the characters overcoming their trauma and moving on with their lives. Symbolizing repressed trauma is, of course, not exclusive to these shark movies or horror at large. As iconic film critic Robin Wood argued, the return of the repressed is the impetus for the genre. However, both The Requin and The Reef: Stalked inadvertently trivialize their chosen traumas by associating them with tawdry shark attacks. This is especially evident in The Reef: Stalked, as the repeated visualizations of trauma create a similar pattern to the shark’s repeated attacks. This association seems to equate what are serious, distressing incidents with the intrinsic absurdity of shark horror.

It goes without saying that no shark attack movie will ever masterfully marry shark-centric terror with sincere drama as well as Jaws. That does not mean, though, that all cinematic sharks need to dial up the schlock factor. There is absolutely a happy medium between the two, one that shark attack movie fans crave. However, as The Requin and The Reef: Stalked demonstrate, shark movies that try too hard to take themselves seriously inadvertently end up swimming in schlockier waters.

Brecken Hunter Wellborn (he/him) is on Collider's team of passionate feature writers. He is an author, educator, and fan of all things film and television.

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