Film Review: “Sea Fever”

IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 14, YOU SHOULD ASK YOUR PARENTS IF YOU ARE ALLOWED, IF THEY SAY NO…IT MEANS NO!

By: Keaton Marcus

This is one of the many movies I hadn’t noticed in the dumpster fire that is 2020, and it’s an Irish Alien-spawn called Sea Fever. Obviously, it’s set in the water, but thankfully, it isn’t as clumsy as Underwater was, it is an effective, chilling and well-made horror thriller that will likely give you a few jumps, especially with the quarantine going on. The pandemic makes a movie like this relevant due to the challenges the characters have to face with a parasite latching onto their ship. Not much social distancing possibilities there, eh? Hermione Corfield leads this aquatic thriller with total confidence and conviction, giving us another final-girl that’s totally worth watching. In fact, the entire cast is at the top of their game, and despite being made on a particularly low budget, Sea Fever proves to be better than the many mediocre, expensive sci-fi blockbusters that hit the cinemas every year. And it seriously gives evidence that Irish director Neasa Hardiman can make a frequently terrifying film.

Corfield plays Siobahn, a superb biology student working on her doctorate. She gets the chance to work on a fishing boat: Niamh Cinn-Óir (a figure with deep roots in Irish mythology), owned and operated by a couple named Gerard and Freya (Dougray Scott and Connie Nielsen). Her job on the trawler is to find patterns of underwater life and “generating algorithms that predict ecological outcomes.” And the crew isn’t exactly welcoming to her, considering she’s a read-head, a terrible omen for sailers. Delving in deeper to her color-of-hair, I perceived it as a bit of a sign of bad things to come considering the myth. It’s a sharp and clever way to introduce the first issue that they face. Kudos, Ms. Hardiman. To slightly dim the bad luck, they spy orcas outside the windows, but something isn’t right. According to Siobahn, they aren’t in whales’ natural habitat. That’s the first big sign that things are gonna go amiss.

Then things begin to escalate quickly with the second…a massive red mass that shows up on the radar that appears to be approaching the boat. By the time the mass latches onto the bottom of their ship, the crew isn’t exactly peachy after they send Siobahn in to check it out. Turns out, that whatever the creature is, it’s tearing into the hull, attempting to sink the entire boat. Or is it the thing’s giant tendrils that are sticking to Niamh Cinn-Óir…But whatever is happening, they need to find out how to kill it fast. Wait, did I just type “kill it”, you may ask? You’re correct, ladies and gentlemen, the creature is alive! We sorta guess that after the crew notice a blue gel-type substance oozing into the boat. Time to take out the Xenomorph, Ridley. Shoot, sorry, time to take out the parasite, Siobahn.

Don’t worry, though, Sea Fever may seem like a tired rip-off of Ridley Scott’s franchise at first, but when the pace picks up, the tension completely overwhelms the familiarity, and that is largely due to the creepily effective set-up. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil the inciting incident or anything, but something in the first 20-30 minutes is going to make you jump out of the seat, I guarantee it. Hardiman knows how to craft this genre exercise, she is knowledgeable enough to completely subvert your expectations, and then make you feel guilty for ever doubting her. I’m not just saying that, the scares in this thing are absolutely excellent, and the cinematography just enhances it all.

Hardiman is a TV veteran who’s directed episodes of acclaimed series Happy Valley and Marvel’s superb Jessica Jones, so it’s no surprise, to be honest, when your mind is blown at the end of the film’s 90 minutes. The first big incident in the movie is, of course, no different to the one from Alien, or perhaps John Carpenter’s The Thing. And sometimes we’re left realizing that this is another creature-feature, with all of the genre tropes and stereotypes. Although not a lot of people can argue against the fact that this is an objectively good movie with flaws. Despite never truly reaching excellency due to the slow pace and lack of climactic plot points, the performances, flawless build-up and visual style bring it together well.

What really struck me was the odd timing of this film. We’re living through a pandemic right now! So why is it a good idea to release a movie about one right in the middle of it? It’s relatable, that’s why. That is another thing Hardiman just nails…the madness of living in isolation, the true horror of being alone. And then she combines it with an appropriately super-sized monster, and a truly mesmerizing, and occasionally soothing score. That’s what makes Sea Fever so eerily and effectively timed. And that is the reason why it was the right thing to do.

It also tackles the #CoronaHoax followers, completely burns their misled opinions to the ground. Not to give away anything too spoiler-ish, we find that there is a contagious aspect to what’s seeping on board, which prompts arguments on whether it’s safe to head for land. Siobahn argues that they should quarantine themselves for 36 hours before returning, taking in the risk factor of infecting people in Ireland. She asks the question of whether your one life is worth risking tons. This is a stand-out moment in the movie, and possibly my favorite scene in it. It’s the movie’s North Star, it guides it towards success, making Sea Fever the suitably engrossing catharsis we all need.

The final opinion is: Though it occasionally lacks intense storytelling, Sea Fever is a slow-paced thriller that’s well-acted, made, and full of effective scares. It just takes a bit of time to get invested…$PLURGE IT

"Sea Fever" is Pandemic Horror at Its Finest, a Jumpy, Well-Acted, and Well-Made Ride

Film Review: “Sea Fever”

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