There is certainly no lack of imagination when it comes to shark movies. These popular fish have shown up in the snow, are made radioactive, and sometimes sport multiple heads and tentacles. However, more times than not, the most ambitious shark stories out there are dampened by a lack of resources and poor execution. Then there are those shark tales where it’s clear there was no desire for uniqueness, causing the final product to get lost at sea, so to speak. Thankfully, Fear Below isn’t, or rather it shouldn’t be, one of those movies.
What sets Matthew Holmes’ Fear Below apart from other specimens is an effective combination of rather simple elements. For starters, Holmes and co-writer Gregory Moss do the unexpected and set their story in the past, as opposed to contemporary times. In 1946 Australia, some shady types sink their car, along with the loot inside, in a river. They soon enlist a local team of scuba divers to fetch the contents of the sunken vehicle, only then to realize the waters are inhabited by a bull shark.
On top of the refreshingly different setting and setup, the main cast comprises a trio of likable types. Fear Below’s contemporaries have a bad habit of delivering loathsome, cursory characters who aren’t always worth rooting for, whereas the three divers in this movie are sympathetic and even a bit inspirational. The Sea Dog Diving Company is led by owner Ernie (Arthur Angel), a man who, despite his poor business decisions, is decent and respects his two employees. Ernie got his two peers Clara (Hermione Corfield) and Jimmy (Jacob Junior Nayinggul) mixed up in this shark mess, and you can tell he later feels guilty for it. Clara and Jimmy, however, stick by Ernie because he was the only person to give them a chance.
Clara and Jimmy’s presence helps Fear Below touch on Australian history without also coming off like a clunky textbook lesson. The former, being a woman, was limited by her aspirations as well as vocational choices, and topical superstitions about women around water definitely did her no favors. Jimmy, on the other hand, is Aboriginal Australian, so he faces a constant barrage of racism and prejudice during these times. The movie’s villains, led by Jake Ryan’s Bull, are happy to remind Jimmy of his social status. This includes the fact that Jimmy and other Aboriginal Australians cannot drink alcohol, due to the current laws in place.
Fear Below puts more effort into its protagonists than other modern shark movies might these days, but Bull and his minions are not nearly as fleshed out. To make up for their lack of background, the story settles on visible personalities. There’s no mixing up the parts of this lousy lot. Bull is the intimidatingly statured boss who’s as intrigued by the Sea Dog’s staff as he is offended. Meanwhile, Janus (Josh McConville) is the Polish righthand man whose bark doesn’t nearly measure up to his bite, and the youngest of the criminals, Shaun (Maximillian Johnson), is consistently cowardly. So even though Bull and his gang are no more than solid sketches, they’re also not indistinguishable from one another.
As magnificent and intriguing as sharks are, emphasizing them in a genre movie is usually a mistake. There has to be more on the surface, in a manner of speaking. Fear Below gets things right by having an actual story to support its shark aspect, and ultimately, it’s more about humans’ complex relationships with one another. The pregnant and territorial bull shark in the river isn’t the focus, although she does bring plenty of excitement. Her brushes with humans, thanks to practical effects, are invariably brutal.
Fear Below stands out without getting fantastical. On the contrary, this movie is grounded and based on reality. Admittedly, the production values are more modest than fancy, and it’s never a guessing game as to who will live and die. There are no major surprises here as far as narrative beats and twists go. Even still, better-than-average writing and an atypical setting do wonders for this straightforward story.
Tales from the Paulside 
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