The Reef

Andrew Traucki – 2010 – Australia

By far one of the best “shark attack” movies in existence, with essentially the same “true story” premise as 2004’s Open Water.  I prefer The Reef, however, not only because of its stunning photography and locations, but because of director Traucki's minimal style.  Everything is handled as simply and directly as possible, with no artistic flourishes, not even the quasi-documentary approach of Open Water.  The suspense is palpable from the film’s earliest scenes, since we more-or-less know what’s coming and it’s only a matter of time.  Eschewing by now standard CGI effects, Traucki insisted on using only genuine shots of people and sharks, a decision that makes all the difference in the world.  We rarely see anything from a point-of-view not also available to characters in the film, and this is one of the basic tenets of subjective filmmaking in a thriller.  The film also successfully follows up on Traucki's previous feature, Black Water (2007), another fact-based survival story about vacationers being menaced by a man-eating animal; (in that case, a crocodile).  In both films, Traucki is careful to portray the animals simply as they are naturally, not abnormally large or malevolent as in most “man vs. nature” movies.  This allows us to dwell on the theme as Traucki intends; specifically, imagining what we would do in the same situation.