It works because of its raw simplicity—the fear of what might happen, intensified by the uncertainty of never truly knowing.

This horror movie was alright. Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis did a decent job in this movie. The plot of the movie was tragic and traumatic. It's about being left behind and fighting to survive. If you haven't seen this movie yet, don't waste your time. It's not worth it.

A super inventive piece of work with NO BUDGET People never consider films on their budgets & how creative they are because of it. This is why I highly rate this film!!!!

This thriller drama is okay, the acting is not bad and one scene with nudity is stupid cause it shows no purpose but over all the concept, writing and direction could have make more sense like they got stuck in the water and why the only ones went down there in the first place. Like how they filming like a found footage which is cool because draws in right when movie starts and definitely running time is great and things they do to survive make sense give that especially if u r in that situation. All in all not a bad movie but one watch for me and give a C+ 1/2👍

People who hate on this film are either too young, or only see it only as a “shark” movie because of its marketing, and not knowing the backstory. In reality, It’s truly the tension of anything that could be lurking underneath the ocean that it executes well. And just the sheer fact that two people are stranded in the middle of it!! That’s what makes this movie great. It is really good at building the tension of what it would really be like to be in this situation. And not really knowing. In the real story that is exactly what happened because they were never found. They didn’t need to use sharks because in reality no one really knows what happened to them anyways. But I would say with what we had at the time of this movie’s release it’s done remarkably well. And if I did consider this essentially only a shark movie I would say it’s definitely one of the best ones with all the others we have had over the years.

Tense, quiet, and understated, this will disappoint those looking for your splashing, thrashing type of shark movie. The plausibility makes for an uneasy watch, especially considering it's based upon a real couple who disappeared in such circumstances. The film doesn't quite find a place to land though. It's not a biopic, not quite a thriller nor a drama, and not really a shark film. I can't say it's bad but I can't say it's great either.

Majority of people giving this movie bad reviews must be Gen-Zers. They don't understand the raw emotion of the ordeal and the real life sound of the sharks circling their prey (sharks thrashing the surface with no da da music) . What made this movie such a great movie when it came out was the despair & the fact that it could happen to any of us. Is it a cinematic masterpiece, no but it is a classic, yes.

Thinly written and poorly executed, this low-budget shark thriller isn't even so bad it's good.

Gives a glimpse of what the two divers Tom and Eileen Lonergan had to endure... Harrowing psychological experience. Great amateur film, the minimalist filming adds to the experience.

While the concept for this movie is promising, as is the first act, it starts to fall away pretty quickly and by the end it struggles to maintain the suspense.

Based on real life events, this movie captures the horror of the two divers' experience, as they slowly realize the predicament they're in. This is as good a guess as any as to what happened to the two divers in real life, when they missed returning to their group boat on time. The ocean is no place to be stranded. The ocean is a place where you are part of a food chain, and that's it. The creatures of the ocean eat others, and they in turn are eaten. As the two hang in the ocean unprotected, legs dangling, it's gripping to watch the two trying to deal with their situation. This was shot with a digital camera using real sharks. The acting was superb, the script was good, the shots realistic. The end was plausible and made me once again wonder what happened to the real two people who had been left behind.

This is one of those movies that are scary because you could picture it happening to you. Alien and Event Horizon may be scary but they can't actually happen, you know? Open Water is also based on a true story ... so not only COULD it happen but it DID happen! The movie does take some liberties because ... it's a movie and they needed to stretch events to be longer and more dramatic but it plays very well. It is a low budget movie so it does look a little home-made but other than that it is a good movie to watch in a dark room with a loved one! Give it a shot!

I found the part where they ramp up to them getting left behind suspenseful. Unfortunately, the most frequent emotion I felt was boredom. Terrible cinematography, terrible writing, terrible directing. The only way to get anything out of this movie is to pretend it's your kids film class project. Well done Timmy, you made a movie!

It's a wonderful film that draws its strength from its amateur side. Although it has a very early image and technique, the tension of the film increases due to the fact that it fits the story it tells. Although it is a very simple subject, dropping into the middle of the sea is a fear that has once occurred to everyone who travels by ship. I congratulate the team for successfully describing this fear and its consequences.

Like "The Perfect Storm", we know very little of the real couple who befell this awful fate. So this is pure conjecture. Also, I said it before and I will always say it. Just because it's a real event don't mean you have to make a movie about it. Especially when 99% is just guess work. This has all the suspense of a Found-Footage movie, as we know they are going to die, it's only a point of when. That's not all the clichés of the found-footage movies. They also has a lot of shaky cam for no reason what so ever. I'm not talking about when everyone is bobbing in the water, pretty much the whole movie. Low budget or not, you should have money for a tripod. Also, I hope the real family really sued that tour company. Even though I know they probably signed a waver before leaving, but that doesn't cover being left behind. That is pure negligence and no excuse for it. When lives are at stake reasonable care needs to be taken which is something they didn't do.

its a real-time nightmare of the most basic but mostly effective kind. the intentionally sparse and low-budget approach strands you right out there with them. not something you'd rewatch but certainly check it out if you want a different approach to scares.

Super hyped when it was released so if you were a zygote then, you won't relate. That being said, vacation getaway horror stories usually revolve around highly unlikable characters & couples, so when their fate is finally met, it's usually with gratitude. This is one of those. Commendable.

It feels like a beginner YouTuber did this...

I really tried to get into this but it was one of the first DVDs I ever fast forwarded to get to the end. What a waste of time, budget camcorder homemade movie filming, soap opera acting, shallow characters, deep water with hungry sharks, wish they had eaten these people sooner . . . zzzz boring, boring, boring. Thankfully I grabbed this off the vid store's 99cent rental rack. I don't care if this was based on ?factual? story -- it was lame on the level of a high-school drama project that earned a C- urrggghhhh

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The critical point of the plot is absolutely ridiculous to anyone who had been on a scuba diving trip. The acting and dialogue are both awful. The biggest suspense is how long you can take the torture of watching this.