INTO THE DEEP

(director: Christian Sesma; screenwriters: Chad Law, Josh Ridgway; cinematographer: Niccolo De La Fere; editor: Eric Potter; music: Andy Fosberry; cast: Scout Taylor Compton (Cassidy), Callum McGowan (Gregg Branham), Jon Seda (Jordan Devans), Stuart Townsend (Daemon Benz), Richard Dreyfuss (Seamus); Runtime: 90; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Daemon Hillin; Saban Films; 2025)

“No Jaws.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Christian Sesma (“72 Hours”/”Kiss of Death”) directs and Chad Law and Josh Ridgway script this cliched and low-quality great white shark thriller.

Seamus (Richard Dreyfuss) is a marine biologist and a loving grandfather to Cassidy (Scout Taylor Compton). As a child Cassidy was traumatized when diving with her father, who was attacked and killed by a great white shark. Cassidy still fears sharks. This fear of sharks is something her grandfather is trying to help her get over.

In the present, Cassidy, an oceanographer, and her husband Gregg (Callum McGowan), take a vacation in the same spot her dad was killed . They go deep sea diving off a yacht they rent from their friend Benz (Stuart Townsend), in their search for sunken treasures on shipwrecks.  But a gang of vicious drug smugglers, led by Jordan (Jon Seda), force Cassidy and Gregg to dive to retrieve black bags filled with drugs. The bags are located in shark-infested water.

This film is no Jaws. What it has going for it is Jaws’ Dreyfuss giving us for the sake of nostalgia a friendly environmental lecture about the benefits of the ocean and of the beauty of sharks. However, it lacks a convincing story and credible underwater diving scenes.

REVIEWED ON 4/7/2025  GRADE: C
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