Fear Below – Movie Review (3/5)

FEAR BELOW is a new shark survival movie from Australia. This one is set after WWII, which makes for a nice change. As so often before, the sharks do what comes naturally, while the real villain is very human. Read our full Fear Below movie review here!

FEAR BELOW is a shark movie from Australia with a survival story. Then again, isn’t every shark movie essentially a survival story?! Still, this one is very different thanks to the time it’s set in: In the aftermath of WWII.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, but I liked how this setting made for a very different kind of shark story. Also, I loved that the shark wasn’t the main villain. Instead, just as with most zombie stories, it’s other people you should fear.

Continue reading our Fear Below movie review below. Find it in select theaters and on Digital from May 2, 2025.

Sharks can kill you… So can humans

While I will admit that Fear Below can feel a bit “paint by numbers” or predictable at times, I don’t want to hold that against it. I mean, I hope we can all recognize that in any (or most) shark horror movies, we do have an idea of who will make it to the end.

For Fear Below, it all begins when a group of ruthless criminals lose their stolen gold in a river. Obviously, they need discretion from those helping to retrieve the gold, so they offer a hefty payment for this job.

A team of desperate, down-on-their-luck divers is the obvious choice to retrieve it. After all, they seem ready to go the extra mile for this job. They need the money as much as the criminals want “their” gold.

Of course, what no one realizes is that there’s a bull shark in the water along with the gold. Sure, it’s in a river, but some sharks can live in both fresh and salt water. So, what was a big job to begin with becomes one that just might kill them.

If not the shark, then the criminals.

A very different kind of team

The divers on the job of retrieving the gold (which they don’t know is gold at first, but we do) are quite a diverse team. There’s the older, and often very drunk, man in charge who owns the company, then there’s a young woman, and an aboriginal man.

All three are outcasts in their own way. He drinks and hires women and native Australians. She learned a trade during the Second World War when women were asked to pitch in, and she isn’t looking to stop working. Finally, the only original Australian is the best diver around.

Speaking of diving, the method of getting and staying underwater was very different 80 years ago. I found it fascinating to see how this all worked and how dependent those going underwater were on those staying on land. A fascinating detail to the story.

And the hungry shark is even given a bit of a possible (or assumed) backstory to help explain its actions; It’s probably a female shark (due to its size). And even more likely is that she’s pregnant. Of course, this makes her more aggressive and hungry.

Not an ideal combination for anyone in the water with said shark.

The stars of Fear Below all deliver what their respective roles require. From Hermione Corfield, Jacob Junior Nayinggul, and Arthur Angel as the diving crew to Jake Ryan, Josh McConville, Maximillian Johnson, Will Fletcher, and Clayton Watson in other key roles.

Watch Fear Below in theaters or on VOD

Fear Below comes from the writer-director duo Matthew Holmes and Gregory Moss. Previously, Matthew Holmes directed movies like the 2017 movie The Legend of Ben Hall and the 2007 movie Twin Rivers.

Gregory Moss has just one writing credit on his IMDb page. It’s the movie The Cost from 2022. That one was also directed by Matthew Holmes, so the two clearly work well together.

What all these titles have in common is that they take place in Australia and usually many decades ago. Personally, I love this. Getting to know more about countries is always nice and can often help you understand their present.

Whether you care about this or not, Fear Below is still a really interesting shark movie and offers some intense scenes, and well-made shark thriller and horror moments. And yes, real shark footage is used, so this isn’t a CGI fest… fortunately.

Fear Below is in Select Theaters, on VOD, and Digital on May 2, 2025.

Details

Directors: Matthew Holmes, Gregory Moss
Writers: Matthew Holmes, Gregory Moss
Cast: Hermione Corfield, Jake Ryan, Josh McConville, Jacob Junior Nayinggul, Arthur Angel, Maximillian Johnson, Clayton Watson