Mandy Moore and Claire Holt star in 47 Meters Down a fairly well-realized white-knuckle thriller from Johannes Roberts. Whatever you think of the concept of the story, a pair of sisters stuck 47 meters down in shark-infested waters, Roberts is able to tap into some very primal fears, add in some solid visual effects work and you end up with a solid shark film that delivers some scares.

Lisa (Moore) and Kate (Holt) are on a Mexican getaway. Lisa is nursing a broken heart, and wondering if she can prove to her ex that she can be spontaneous and fun as she and Kate flirt with a pair of local guys, the idea of going out to watch sharks, from inside a shark cage, is floated and Kate urges Lisa to say yes.

The excursion isn’t booked through their travel agent, and the captain, Taylor (Matthew Modine) and his small crew don’t treasure the two young women, but off they go. The pair slip into the cage and find themselves surrounded by the wonder of the oceans, but it goes wrong very quickly as the winch drops the cage, 47 meters, and with air running out, Lisa and Kate have to figure out what to do.

I love SCUBA diving and can relate to a number of frightening moments that are portrayed in the film, moving out over what seems to be a dark and bottomless abyss and not knowing what lies below you, running out of air and not being able to make it to the surface in time, all of these are played to the max, with some fantastic visual effects bringing the sharks to life, and upping the tension of the narrative.

The story moves fast, and both Lisa and Kate are required to push themselves to their limits, and honestly, I loved how the final act played out, it’s tense, well-crafted and has some wonderful moments.

Sure a number of things are tweaked for the narrative like the aggressive shark behaviour, and the fact that their air lasts longer than it should, but it ends up being a solid tale, and Moore is not only watchable but brings the reality of the situation to a vibrant and terrifying life.

None of the shark shots last a great length of time, which lends them the Jaws effect, you know they’re around even if you don’t see them, and it plays upon the fear of not seeing the whole monster all the time.

Is 47 Meters Down a ‘great’ film? Arguably not, but it is damned entertaining, and I was more than happy to check it out. I’m not sure if I will follow it up with the sequel or not, but this one was a lot of fun.