Brainstorm Media’s latest film, Dangerous Waters is a compelling thriller set on the isolating open water, which gives birth to a badass new female heroine. Its oceanous setting, untrustworthy characters, and blood-pumping music make for a tense survival thriller. The cast is brilliant, with Odeya Rush (Goosebumps) stealing the show as a worthy female protagonist who kicks ass, as well as a clever performance by Eric Dane (Euphoria), and a short but surprising appearance from Ray Liotta (Goodfellas).
Liotta passed away mid-production, forcing a quick rewrite of Dangerous Waters to change some things around. As a result, the film never really stays on one course, and while it’s mostly set on the ocean with two characters, the film ends with an exhilarating, action-packed third act that somewhat comes out of nowhere. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a well done finale and we are glad that it’s here, but it doesn’t stop this drastic shift into action movie territory from feeling a little jarring.
If you’re a fan of thrillers, action movies, Ray Liotta, or… boats… then Dangerous Waters is a movie you should not miss.
Stranded On the Open Water
The movie kicks off by introducing us to Rose, a highly intelligent and confident young woman who lives with her widowed mom, Alma (Saffron Burrows), after Rose’s dad died in the military when she was only a little girl. Rose and her mom are about to embark on a short voyage across the Bermuda with Derek (Eric Dane), a man her mom has only been dating for a couple of months. Sure, what can go wrong?
At first, it’s a normal and fairly pleasant trip. The three get along and bond just fine. Until their boat is boarded and attacked by pirates who proceed to shoot Rose’s mom and Derek while Rose hides. But when they start throwing Molotov cocktails at the ship, setting it alight, Rose must do anything to stop the boat from catching fire and sinking to the bottom of the ocean.
With the fire put out, and Alma and Derek out for the count, Rose must rely on herself to stay alive, and hopefully make it to shore. However, it isn’t long before Derek becomes conscious, using her knowledge of boats to try and help them survive. However, as Rose soon finds out, her mother’s boyfriend is not who he says he is, and Rose must figure out his agenda before it’s too late.
A Badass Female Heroine Is Born
Rose is a badass, a confident, highly intelligent, and highly skilled character. She is trained fighter, as well as being very versed in firearm combat, due to her love of action movies, her secret life, and her deceased dad serving in the military. She can handle a boat just fine, shoot down an attacker like it’s nothing, and fend off a towering sexual predator. Not many can say that. Rose is an empowering female heroine who we’d love to see again.
But on paper, a character can only be so cool and capable, so that’s where an actor comes into play who can bring that character to life. And Odeya Rush does more than a great job. Her physicality in the action is very impressive, and the way she handles a gun is believable. Likewise, in the moments outside of action, Rush infuses Rose with the wit, intelligence, and will to live that make her such a memorable and inspiring female character to begin with. She’s had a rough life, from losing her father to being stuck at the bottom rungs of the working class, and she lives up to the challenge when she’s put to the test.
A Brilliant Cast All Around
Along with a great performance from Odeya Rush, the rest of the cast offer great performances as well. Eric Dane is perhaps the best behind Odeya Rush as the mysterious Derek, a former cop who is mixed up with bad people. Drawing much from his character on Euphoria, Eric Dane builds tension with his unnerving delivery and physicality.
Ray Liotta makes a surprising appearance in the film as a mythical kind of antagonist simply named The Captain. His performance is of course incredible, resulting in one of the best scenes of the year. Except, that’s the only scene he’s in. His character was supposed to play a bigger role in the narrative, but after Liotta passed, the filmmakers had to change the script. The five minutes he’s in, though, was too amazing to scrap, and we’re glad to see the great actor’s final scene.
A Slow-Burn Survival Thriller
For the majority of its run time, Dangerous Waters is a slow-burn survival thriller full of life-threatening scenarios. The film’s heart-pounding music by Zak McNeil shrouds it in atmospheric tension which continues through nearly the entire two-hour run time. Likewise, setting any movie on the endless open water, with little supplies or hope for our characters, already amounts to a great deal of thrills. But top that off with our main protagonist being stuck with an untrustworthy and potentially dangerous individual who’s the size of Eric Dane, and you have a terrifying concept.
A Tone-Shifting Final Act
As previously mentioned, the majority of Dangerous Waters is a slow-burning thriller set on the open waters. However, that all gets thrown out of the window for a Taken-esque finale, with Rose stuck on a ship full of sex traffickers, gruff men who are transporting a bunch of young girls to assumedly be sold off for sex work. While it does come out of nowhere, and at a breakneck speed, filmmaker John Barr does an expert job at handling the action, allowing for a fantastic final act. The movie couldn’t have ended in a better way. John Barr’s action is claustrophobic, conservatively edited, and well-choreographed. We would have loved to have seen more, but we are still thankful for what we got.
Dangerous Waters releases in select theaters and on demand October 13th.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
