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Film: The Last Breath
Year: 2024
Director: Joachim Hedén
Writer: Nick Saltrese
Starring: Julian Sands, Jack Parr and Kim Spearman
Review:
This is a movie that caught my attention when looking at the schedule of what was showing at the Gateway Film Center, like I do regularly. The title seemed intriguing and then learning that this was Julian Sands’ final role piqued my interest me. It being a shark film and considered horror was enough to figure out a time that worked to see this. I also saw that a buddy on social media liked this as well.
Synopsis: a group of old college friends reunite on a Caribbean scuba diving trip exploring the wreckage of a WWII battleship and find themselves trapped inside the underwater labyrinth of rusted metal surrounded by great white sharks.
This starts during World War II. We are in a submarine, which fires a torpedo, sinking a battleship. The ship we are seeing is the USS Charlotte. There are two survivors floating on wood when one is attacked by something underneath the water. Neither survive.
We then jump to the present. Levi (Sands) owns a boat and has a business where they take people out to do dives. Everything he has is outdated though as money is tight. He also can no longer go underwater, due to his health. He has one employee, Noah (Jack Parr). We get an interesting scene early on where a boat that more advanced equipment goes by. These two are looking for the USS Charlotte. Noah goes under and thinks he’s found it. There were recent tropical storms that shifted the sand under the water and cleared enough away.
Back on the shore, Noah’s friends have come to visit. It has been a couple of years and we see that now, being adults, they’re drifting apart. There is Brett (Alexander Arnold) who works on Wall Street. He’s rich, but it never seems to be enough. He likes to show off as well. His sister is Sam (Kim Spearman). She and Noah used to date, but they broke up because she wants to be a doctor in New York and he is working where he is. The attraction is still there. There is also Riley (Erin Mullen) and Logan (Arlo Carter), who also join them.
While they’re catching up, Logan notices the slight smile that Noah has. He assumes he has found a girlfriend down here. Noah instead reveals what they found. Brett jumps on the chance to do something special and dive down to see it. He’s even willing to pay, driving the price higher as Levi declines the offer. It isn’t until Noah learns how much they’re in debt and that Levi has leveraged the boat to keep afloat, that a deal is struck. This group of young people is going to dive into the USS Charlotte. Everyone is certified. The issue there is that Brett pushes the envelope and there are unforeseen issues once they’re inside the ship.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I’ll start is that I did a bit of brief research about the ship they’re using here, the USS Charlotte. I’m not finding that this one was lost during WWII. It’s not a big deal. They’re creating something that I know is real. There are ships that have been lost and there are people like this out there trying to find out where they could be under the ocean. The idea also reminded me of Jaws with the story that Quint tells of the USS Indianapolis. Since both are shark movies, I wouldn’t be shocked to learn that was the inspiration for the backstory we see to start this one off.
Where I want to start is that the set up for this movie worked for me. The only issue that I can foresee here is borrowing elements from other movies to create this one like I said. That doesn't ruin this. It is hard though to give it credit though since it loses originality. You could say that the opening set up is taken from Jaws. It then feels like 47 Meters Down where our characters get trapped inside of this sunken ship with limited oxygen. It even feels like that other movie’s sequel with different things that happen. It is a shark movie though, so it must work in its confines as well.
Now that I have that out of the way, let me delve more into what we're getting here. Let me start with our duo Noah and Levi. There is charm in the fact that they don't have the technology that other companies have. I don't know if that is necessarily by design, but more of necessity. Levi is broke. He took out money against his boat and when he can't pay that, this business is done. This is a common idea that we see. It also helps to build up how much of a jerk Brett is. He flaunts his money and uses it to control people.
Then going from there, I thought that the setting up of getting our group trapped in the sunken ship is good. Brett doesn't want to pay the amount that he is for a normal dive. This sets up the fact that finding this wreck was important. If this group gets to explore it first, that is something that others don't get the chance to say. They don't even necessarily care outside of that. Then to complicate more, Noah keeps reminding his friends to be safe. When the sharks attack, it is when they're trying to leave. They've wasted oxygen, which adds tension. There are things done to prolong what we're seeing, but this is the biggest thing. It also fits the title.
Let me then discuss the creature feature aspect, which are sharks. They are done with CGI. Not really any other way that you could do this. It would be too expensive and most likely would look fake. This doesn't lean too much into the sharks though. It is more about the fight against getting out of the water before running out of air. Having these animals stalking them helps to push this though, since panic sets in and causes people to use more air. I do think this works well in conjunction with building the tension for the movie. My only issue here is that the sharks don't always act normally. There is blood in the water, which they can smell for miles away, yet they don't come after characters. It feels like it is done this way for convenience.
All that is left then is going over the acting. It is sad that this was Sands' last film. He was solid here though and always a professional actor. Not sure I've seen him do a bad role, even when he's been in things that aren't great. Spearman is attractive. There is a backstory with her and Noah that doesn't add a lot, but their chemistry is there. Parr works as our other lead character. Arnold is solid as the catalyst to getting this group stuck under the water. Mullen, and Carter rounded out the friend group. They bring enough personality to the characters which makes them feel real. No one is great, but they work for what was needed.
In conclusion, this is a fine shark film. It takes elements that work with other films and then blends them with what we get here. The set up works and is believable. The acting brings the characters to life and I had no issues there. This is done well enough with the cinematography leading the way and the sound design as well as the music building tension. The sharks are CGI, but not sure what else you can do there. I do fear that this is going to fall into obscurity due to not doing enough to stand out. It is still a solid one to check out if you like shark films.
My Rating: 7 out of 10