The Devil's Mouth bites off just enough to chew

Horror really surged in the 1970s and hit one of its 'golden eras,' pushing boundaries with classics such as The Exorcist and Halloween. It was the shift from the old castles and gothic tropes to real tangible fears of a masked man in your home, or the devil possessing a young girl that pushed it to the moon. Filmmakers were preying on the real world anxieties and fears that people carried. One of those fears is of course things that can eat us, apex predators. Enter Jaws from a young Spielberg, a film that horrified beachgoers for decades to come and more importantly, opened the door for an entire subgenre in the horror space, shark attacks.

Aquatic horror has been chugging along ever since, playing with different creatures, scenarios and situations where humans might come face to face with the creatures of the deep. As a shark film enjoyer, they all have a pretty basic premise of a group of humans stranded or stuck with a shark in their way. To find new angles in this subgenre is difficult, its extremely saturated. The Devil's Mouth is a 2026 film by Jeff Wadlow that does exactly that.

When a group of friends in Thailand secure a cave exploring excursion through some persuasion following a flood, they find themselves trapped in the cave system with an enraged bull shark who is extremely territorial. Led by Kathryn Newton and Lana Condor, the young cast must navigate their way out of the unknown territory while navigating not only the angry shark, but also the fragile cave system and its labyrinthian design.

Image courtesy of Amazon Studios

There are generally three issues that plague shark films in my opinion; not enough shark, repetitive, drawn-out plots, or characters you don't care enough about. Honestly, this film navigated away from all three. There is PLENTY of shark, creative kills and utilization of its anger that are done extremely well. While the plot can get slightly redundant as they're moving back and forth between the different caves, often backtracking, they introduce new elements and obstacles often enough to keep it feeling fresh. Most of all, they really breathe some life into the characters. While they don't always make the smartest decisions, they feel real and developed instead of just being fish fodder. Newton anchors the film with her steady performance. She is quite effortless and the focal point of much of the plot. Lana Condor was a great foil to her and a creative plot device for the movie as she generally was the spearhead of some of the idiotic decisions that get them into their grave situation in the first place. Most notably, I really enjoyed Nico Hiraga's performance and thought he was the most relatable character in the film, grounded and logical while still being horrified.

The real separation occurs in the usage of the environment. Wadlow maximized the cave systems and while some of the creatures can look a little CGI heavy at times, Wadlow had these actors diving 12-14 hours a day in these Thailand caves, capturing his intricate underwater scenes. The caves were an incredibly unique setting, offering rocky reprieves for the characters to regroup and obstacles for the shark to navigate. They gave a The Descent style vibe to the entire situation, which heightened the viewer anxiety exponentially. It shows that there is still a ton of runway out there for these films, so long as you choose a unique location or scenario and utilize it fully.

Ultimately, this is a shockingly fun foray into the deep that will leave you yelling at the screen in terror. The Devil's Mouth is perfect summer watch and one of the better entries to the animal attack genre over the past few years. Expect to have a good time with The Devil's Mouth and remember to always be aware of what may be lurking below.

The Devil's Mouth is now streaming on Prime Video.