REVIEW: “The Devil’s Mouth”
Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
If 2026 has shown us anything, it’s that the sharksploitation genre still has plenty of bite left in it. There’s always room for a big, dumb shark movie that knows exactly what it is. Not every movie in this space needs to be Jaws. Sometimes all a movie needs is a simple survival story, a convincing monster, a few gruesomely creative attacks, and enough underwater mayhem to keep things interesting. That’s why The Devil’s Mouth is so disappointing. It has the kind of premise that should deliver B-movie fun, but the final product ends up being much dumber than it is fun.
The movie centers on a group of friends who just graduated college and are taking one last summer trip to Thailand before real life and adulting catch up with them. That setup should give the movie an easy emotional hook, and this group of twentysomethings should feel relatable. Instead, the script reduces them to stereotypes: the leader (Lana Condor), the flirt (Tommi Rose), the dependable guy (Nico Hiraga), the himbo (Gavin Casalegno), and the quiet, resourceful one (Kathryn Newton). The movie seems to think that having their whole lives in front of them is enough character motivation, but it isn’t. As a result, these characters feel less like real people and more like future victims waiting to be crossed off the list.
Their vacation takes a deadly turn when the group explores a maze of underwater caves, including one called “The Devil’s Mouth.” Once they’re deep inside, they discover that heavy rains in the area have caused the surrounding ocean levels to rise, unexpectedly dumping a bull shark into the same caves they’re in. On paper, that’s a terrific setup: tight spaces, dark water, and a dangerous predator in the wrong place. In the right hands, it could have been pulpy, tense, and fun. Instead, director Jeff Wadlow somehow makes it feel dull and lifeless.
The biggest problem is the shark itself. A good movie monster doesn’t have to look perfect, but it should feel real, and this shark never does. The CGI used to render it makes the shark look flat, weightless, and unfinished. As if the creature were dropped into the movie at the last minute, instead of being built into the action from the start. In a shark thriller, that is more than a minor flaw; it weakens the whole movie, because the main threat never really feels like it’s sharing the same space with the actors.
Even stranger, the shark doesn’t behave like a real shark. It behaves more like a slasher-movie villain, lurking in the shadows, stalking its victims, and even reacting when the characters taunt it, as though it actually hears and understands them. This kind of silliness can work in a creature feature if the attacks deliver the thrills, but here they don’t. In a killer shark movie, the attacks should be the highlight, but there’s no real suspense or cleverness in the staging here, and the kills have little impact. Most of the deaths happen because the characters make really bad decisions.
And boy, do these characters make some really bad decisions.
This is where the script really lets the movie down. It keeps making reasonably smart characters do the dumbest things, only because the movie needs another victim. Newton’s character, Sara, seems like the smartest of the group, but that’s faint praise given that the rest of the characters are so thinly written, and even she makes choices that don’t make any sense. Condor’s character, Max, swings from being annoyingly self-absorbed to needlessly harsh whenever the plot needs extra conflict. Then, the movie tries to make us care about Max’s fate, but that emotional investment is never earned.
Newton and Condor have been really good in better movies, and they still manage to stand out here when the movie lets them. The problem is that Wadlow’s direction and the clunky script work against them. Even worse, the script often gives away who the next victim will be through on-the-nose, clumsy dialogue, so there’s no suspense before the next attack.
The visuals don’t help either. The cinematography is so dark and murky that it’s hard to follow what’s happening underwater. Maybe the filmmakers wanted to hide the subpar CGI shark, or maybe they simply struggled filming the cave scenes. Either way, a movie about people being hunted in underwater caves shouldn’t leave viewers squinting to see what’s going on. Darkness can be scary, but only if you can actually see the danger.
This whole movie is a real missed opportunity. The setup has everything you need for tension: cramped spaces, few exits, rising danger, and a killer predator on the loose. Those elements should make the movie feel tense and gripping almost by default. A stronger version could have made every tunnel feel dangerous, and every movement in the water feel risky. Instead, Wadlow drains the danger from nearly every scene, and what should be a breathless survival thriller ends up feeling strangely dull.
What makes this even more disappointing is that shark movies don’t have to be elaborate to work. Some are genuinely good, and some are enjoyably ridiculous. The Devil’s Mouth is neither. It’s not scary enough to be thrilling, not fun enough to enjoy, and not weird enough to be memorable. It has everything it needs to take a bite out of the sharksploitation genre, but instead it barely leaves a lasting mark.
The Devil’s Mouth is currently available to stream on Prime Video.