The Shallows, a film by Jaume Collet-Serra, is the gripping tale of an adventurous surfing going wrong. This 86 minutes long film makes you witness the survival thriller of a female getting trapped in the sea. Attacked by a shark and injured severely, and many challenges in front of her, be it high tide, and stranded there with no one for her rescue, how she survives and fights back and saves herself in spite of not even knowing the name of the beach forms the story. It is indeed a treat to watch Blake Lively essaying the role of the protagonist. Although, we have witnessed such types of survival thrillers in the past, some inspired from real life incidents and some fictional. The themes and situations might have been different and intensity also might have varied, be it The Edge, The Grey, 127 hours, Alive, Frozen, Gravity, The snow walker, Rescue Dawn, The Revenant, Sanctum etc. We have seen our very own Suraj Sharma giving excellent performance in Life of Pi. The Shallows is not very intense like previously mentioned films, but it would keep you hooked on to the screen. The Shallows captures the life-or-death experience of the protagonist, pitted against seemingly insurmountable odds, her efforts to find the feasible resources to survive against an implacable enemy – shark.

The film begins with a young boy playing with a soccer ball in a beach. He finds an action camera attached to a helmet, he gets astonished to see the video of a man struggling to come out of water but ultimately getting killed by a shark.

Frames move further to tell us the story behind the video captured in the action camera. A medical student Nancy Adams (Blake Lively) travels to an isolated beach in Mexico to surf. She wanted to go there, since her mother (who is no more) had surfed there many years ago and this is where she had discovered that she was pregnant with Nancy. Carlos (Oscar Jaenada), a local guy, drives her down to the beach. Carlos refuses to divulge the name of the beach to Nancy in spite of her frequently asking him. He just says that it is a paradise. Once Nancy reaches there, she just loves the beach and gets ready to surf. She finds two men also surfing. After a quick break and video chat with her sister Chloe (Sedona Legge) and father (Brett Cullen), she dives back to surf. While heading back to the shore, a shark hits her surf board, making her fall. As she tries to get back on the surfing board, the shark bites her leg very badly.

Then begins her fight for survival. How does she handle her injuries? What resources she use to stop the bleeding from her leg? Who comes for her rescue ? How does she handle the high tide ? What all challenges come in front of Nancy ?

Surfing scenes are breathtaking. Also, certain fights which Nancy puts up for her survival will keep you glued to the screen. Blake Lively as the protagonist has indeed given a great performance.

‘The Shallows’ captures the life-or-death experience of the protagonist Nancy Adams portrayed by Blake Lively, pitted against seemingly insurmountable odds, her efforts to find the feasible resources to survive against an implacable enemy – shark. Although we have seen many intense survival thrillers than this in the past, watch this crisp and tight piece as well.