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The Shallows

Play trailer 1:39 Poster for The Shallows PG-13 2016 1h 27m Mystery & Thriller Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
78% Tomatometer 218 Reviews 59% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Still reeling from the loss of her mother, medical student Nancy Adams (Blake Lively) travels to a secluded beach for some much-needed solace. Despite the danger of surfing alone, Nancy decides to soak up the sun and hit the waves. Suddenly, a great white shark attacks, forcing her to swim to a giant rock for safety. Left injured and stranded 200 yards from shore, the frightened young woman must fight for her life as the deadly predator circles her in its feeding ground.
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The Shallows

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Critics Consensus

Lean and solidly crafted, The Shallows transcends tired shark-attack tropes with nasty thrills and a powerful performance from Blake Lively.

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Critics Reviews

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Tara Brady Irish Times 12/05/2016
3/5
[A] reasonably entertaining, imprudently daft aquatic thriller. Go to Full Review
David Stratton The Australian 08/19/2016
2.5/5
The realism of the early scenes -- leaving aside Nancy's unaccountable willingness to be stranded alone in a remote place -- is replaced by increasingly silly scenes that lead eventually to a nonsensical conclusion. Go to Full Review
David Sexton London Evening Standard 08/14/2016
4/5
About half of what is now going on in all cinema is the product of technological advances in film-making and The Shallows makes much more intelligent use of them than the superheroes do. Go to Full Review
Guillermo Troncoso Screen Realm Aug 21
3.5/5
The Shallows stays afloat by keeping its premise fun, visceral and engaging. Go to Full Review
Don Shanahan Every Movie Has a Lesson 07/28/2025
3/5
The shock value action is just what you want in this kind of movie and the stings linger like a knife slowly continuing to twist inside a wound. Go to Full Review
Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies 08/25/2022
4/5
“The Shallows” wisely stays true to its central concept. Its hook could easily wear thin if it extended itself too far, but the compact 80 minute running time keeps the tension high and the story moving forward. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Justin P @RT10780910 2d Another pure fantasy with the all too typical demonization of sharks, especially great whites. Although this film is mildly suspenseful, it’s the same warn out story. See more Welll A @Azevader88 2d A good dose of tension with Jaume Collet-Serra's competent direction for the different stages of Nancy's (Blake Lively, charismatic) struggle for survival. The script works well with the situations to maintain interest, since the scenario does not change. I just don't deal well with characters who voluntarily put themselves in situations of danger of death like Nancy does here. There were so many red flags before the shark attack happened (the friend who didn't go, the driver asking how she would get out of there, she didn't even know the name of the beach she was on, how deserted it was, not having left with the surfers...), that at a certain point I honestly couldn't cheer for her. Only for Steven Seagull. Best character, and what a genius name. I have a hard time buying the premise of an animal that does things out of spite, and not by simple instinct, to feed itself. Maybe in a more 'trash' context, as in an "Anaconda" it works more for me, here it didn't happen. #HBOMax See more PJ V @RT21059276 Jul 26 Probably one of my favorite shark flicks when I now have 8!! Really intense with just doing a one shot!! See more dustination P @dustination Jul 21 It was fine. It was never great, but never terrible either. Thankfully, it was realitively short. Had they made it much longer, it would have likely overstayed its welcome. Blake Lively did a good job acting in a role that is mostly just her stuck on an object in water and talking to herself or a seagull. It is not a movie I'd necessarily recommend, but it's also not one I'd tell people to avoid. See more Par H @Parhwy Jul 17 The Shallows (2016) is an 86-minute-long US thriller / horror I borrowed from my niece’s DVD collection and saw in July 2026. This film is reasonably efficient in conveying its elements and motivations: the drive to the beach, the reason she goes to the beach, what goes good at the beach, and what goes wrong. Even the shark’s motivation to hang around beyond a full belly gets a reason. I enjoy films which overlap social media apps instead of just showing you a phone (The Shallows use both techniques). The weakest point of the film is that you get a snippet of a future event into which the main character is driving to, to build the tension. Overall, this film is simple yet efficient. It does what it set out to do. Rewatch? No (I say having watched it twice). Recommend? Yes. 7/10. See more Schlub Z @SchlubZero Jul 11 If you can look past the “Jaws: The Revenge” levels of vindictiveness from the villainous fish, there’s an interesting survival film here with some themes that, while never feeling fully fleshed out, still held my attention for the most part. See more Read all reviews
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The Shallows

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Movie Info

Synopsis Still reeling from the loss of her mother, medical student Nancy Adams (Blake Lively) travels to a secluded beach for some much-needed solace. Despite the danger of surfing alone, Nancy decides to soak up the sun and hit the waves. Suddenly, a great white shark attacks, forcing her to swim to a giant rock for safety. Left injured and stranded 200 yards from shore, the frightened young woman must fight for her life as the deadly predator circles her in its feeding ground.
Director
Jaume Collet-Serra
Producer
Lynn Harris, Matti Leshem
Screenwriter
Anthony Jaswinski
Distributor
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co
Weimaraner Republic Pictures, Ombra Films
Rating
PG-13 (Brief Strong Language|Bloody Images|Intense Sequences of Peril)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 24, 2016, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 27, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$55.1M
Runtime
1h 27m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)