59
Metascore
35 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichCollet-Serra ensures that we feel the risk of every stroke between his heroine and her safety. The action is visceral and immediate, but crucially contextualized by a helpful array of wide shots and bird’s-eye views.
- 83The Film StageBrian RoanThe Film StageBrian RoanAfter a summer glutted with films pushing punishing, redundant set pieces on grand scales, we finally have a film that is patient, atmospheric, and that delights in delivering escalating thrills of a smaller but more valuable variety.
- 80The GuardianJordan HoffmanThe GuardianJordan HoffmanWhat could have been mere summertime chum is actually one of the more cleverly constructed B-movies in quite some time.
- 75Slant MagazineCarson LundSlant MagazineCarson LundWhat makes the film churn so forcefully for so long is Jaume Collet-Serra's visual acrobatics.
- 70ScreenCrushMatt SingerScreenCrushMatt SingerSurrounded by so many bloated, unsatisfying movies, The Shallows is as refreshing as a quick dip on a hot summer day — preferably in a pool, not the ocean. They tend to be safer and less shark-infested.
- 67Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyEntertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyThe Shallows could have been a really fun B-movie. And in a lot of ways, it is. There’s no denying that it has some great jump-scares and scratches a certain summer itch we all get this time of year. Too bad it’s a bit too watered down.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThings get into the area of “Oh come on” before they’re done. But The Shallows never tries to pass itself off as deep. It’s a straight, simple and primal thriller playing with our darkest deep sea fear — getting eaten.
- 50VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeAt times, it’s hard to tell whether The Shallows is trying to sell a tropical vacation, that Sony Xperia phone or a fantasy date with Lively herself, but in any case, the film looks virtually indistinguishable from a slick, high-end commercial.
- 50Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonThe Shallows is diverting escapism one wishes could have cut a little deeper.
- 20The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyShallow is a mild word for it. Others would be silly, miscalculated, unconvincing, artless, pandering, hokey, ridiculous. Or just plain awful.