Underwater (2020) – Terror in the Deep
Underwater, released in 2020 and directed by William Eubank, is a claustrophobic sci-fi horror thriller that wastes no time dragging viewers into the depths of panic. Set seven miles beneath the ocean’s surface, the film follows a crew of researchers working in a deep-sea drilling station who find themselves trapped after a massive earthquake devastates their facility. But the structural collapse is just the beginning—the real horror is what the quake has awakened.
Kristen Stewart leads the cast as Norah, a mechanical engineer forced into survival mode. With oxygen running low and escape options vanishing, she and her crew must traverse the dark ocean floor in high-pressure suits, only to discover they're being hunted by mysterious, monstrous creatures lurking in the abyss.
Underwater delivers nonstop tension from the first minute. There's no build-up—the disaster strikes immediately, setting a relentless pace. The environment itself becomes a constant threat: crushing pressure, darkness, isolation, and the unknown. The film captures a deep sense of dread, not just from its creatures but from the suffocating silence and hopelessness that defines life at the ocean floor.
Visually, it’s murky and intense. The camera moves frenetically through flooded corridors, flickering lights, and narrow escape tunnels. The sound design amplifies every creak, groan, and distant shriek, making the setting feel alive and hostile. The creature design borrows from Lovecraftian horror, especially in its eerie, ancient, and almost alien aesthetic.
Though comparisons to Alien and The Abyss are inevitable, Underwater holds its own as a survival horror thriller. It doesn’t slow down for deep character work, but it nails the atmosphere of constant danger and the primal fear of what hides in the dark.
In the crushing black of the deep sea, no one can hear you drown—or scream.
