Bridgerton star’s shark thriller Thrash is the Netflix guilty pleasure to watch this weekend

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Tommy Wirkola’s shark film, Thrash, went through several title changes during its production. It was initially called The Rising, then Beneath the Storm, and later Shiver before finally becoming Thrash. Interestingly, removing the ‘h’ from Thrash reveals a name that might actually be the most appropriate one.

Let’s be realistic, nobody going to see this movie was expecting it to be as good as classics like Jaws, or even the surprisingly good The Shallows with Blake Lively. Honestly, the Sharknado movies are often more entertaining, with the exception of the truly awful The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time.

The movie Thrash isn’t good, and that might be why it went straight to Netflix instead of playing in theaters. However, the actors involved are surprisingly talented – they’re better than you’d usually find in a direct-to-video film.

Phoebe Dynevor, known for her role in Bridgerton, plays Lisa Fields, a pregnant woman who continues working at a meat packing plant despite an approaching Category 5 hurricane. The residents of Annieville, South Carolina, still need their meat, and it’s a good thing she does – her baby is due just as sharks begin to appear, creating a chaotic situation.

The movie features sharks created with unusual, rubbery-looking special effects. They appear because of the hurricane, but the reason doesn’t really matter – it doesn’t make much sense, even though the film initially hints that climate change might be to blame.

Let’s be clear: climate change is a serious threat, but it’s not likely to involve sharks swimming down the street. Still, there are plenty of real dangers in the world, and Dakota Edwards, a teenager with extreme anxiety about leaving home, already knew that. In fact, she was terrified of going outside before the floods and sharks started appearing.

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When Lisa unexpectedly becomes stranded in floodwaters filled with sharks while pregnant, her friend Dakota must overcome her fears and do everything she can to rescue her and the baby.

Also, Dakota’s uncle is a shark expert named Dale, and it’s great to see Djimon Hounsou in the role – he’s a talented actor who deserves better parts than this one.

You’d expect a story about a shark attack to be thrilling enough, but the writer and director, Tommy Wirkola, adds another plotline about three siblings who are stuck in town with their terrible foster parents – almost as if he wants to pack even more into the movie.

Do these children have any connection to Lisa or Dakota? Nope. And do their individual stories actually come together in a significant way? You’ve probably already figured out that they don’t.

It’s satisfying to watch the truly awful foster parents finally get what they deserve. After enjoying lavish meals while the children barely had enough to eat, it’s darkly humorous to see them become the meal for the bull sharks that show up at their house – and a very rare one at that.

Director Tommy Wirkola is known for unexpectedly combining strange elements in his films, like Nazis and zombies in Dead Snow or Santa Claus and intense action in Violent Night. This time, he’s mixed a shark attack thriller with the disaster movie genre, but unfortunately, the result isn’t very successful.

The movie fails to build suspense, largely due to awkward and disjointed editing. While it tries to be funny, the humor doesn’t always connect because the movie’s overall mood shifts inconsistently. One line in particular—”Hey Will, bet you never saw this on Shark Week”—feels especially unnatural and out of place.

It’s tough to stay upset with a movie that tackles its issues with both explosive action and a pop song. While not everything lands, some scenes are genuinely funny in their over-the-top nature, even if similar ideas were done better in the film Crawl. Honestly, if you want pure, silly fun, even Sharknado delivers more of that.

These are definitely challenging times. They’re so difficult, you might even find yourself strangely welcoming something completely wild and unexpected, like a hurricane filled with sharks! But for now, we’ll have to settle for the movie Thrash instead.

Thrash is now available to watch now on Netflix.

The latest issue of Living Legends, a beautiful, full-color 100-page tribute to Sir David Attenborough, is now available! You can find it at newsstands or purchase it online.

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2026-04-10 14:50