Common Sense Media Review
By Alistair Lawrence
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Low-budget Australian horror has violence, peril, swearing.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Black Water: Abyss
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
BLACK WATER: ABYSS follows the travels of five friends, led by Eric (Luke Mitchell) and Cash (Anthony J. Sharpe), through a network of caves in a remote part of Northern Australia. But when they discover a group of deadly crocodiles in the caves' water, their adventure turns into an escape mission.
Is It Any Good?
Borrowing the premise from Jaws, the setting of The Descent, and the killer crocs from a dozen forgettable B-movies, this horror-drama sets off underground and proceeds to lose its way quickly. Working with a script that has as many lines of memorable dialogue as it does new ideas, the cast do their best to gasp, splutter, and splash their way through Black Water: Abyss' choppy, poorly paced action sequences that are about as dramatic as a badly organized swimming lesson.
A bolted-on drama involving one character's cancer scare and another's pregnancy does little to raise the stakes. Watching what feels like a charmless soap opera play out in an unlikely setting, it's almost enough to make the viewer wish the water would rise a little higher and hope the crocodiles manage an early lunch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the violence in Black Water: Abyss. How much was shown, and how much was suggested? How did it affect you?
Was the movie scary? What's the appeal of horror movies?
Talk about the strong language in the movie. Did it seem necessary or excessive? What did it contribute to the movie?
Discuss the relationships between the characters. Were they believable? How did their relationships impact the story?
Movie Details
- In theaters : August 7, 2020
- On DVD or streaming : October 6, 2020
- Cast : Jessica McNamee , Luke Mitchell , Amali Golden
- Director : Andrew Traucki
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Altitude Film Distribution
- Genre : Horror
- Run time : 98 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : November 17, 2021
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