First of all, the people who made the movie trailer for The Requin movie need a swift kick in the behind. Mother of Movies rarely, if ever watches film trailers. I couldn’t help myself, though, when I saw The Requin trailer popping up while scrolling on Facebook. Not only does the anti-teaser for this feature film give the entire storyline away, but it almost covers the ending for the thriller title as well. As usual, the internet has been awash in scathing feedback for the film since its release on January 28th, 2022. Shark movies tend to get the harshest of criticism when it comes to creature features.
Our last review for all things shark was for the Australian horror movie “Great White” which I rather liked. The Great White movie was also panned by general audiences. There are, of course, the cult favorites like Open Water, The Shallows, Deep Blue Sea, and Bait. These films are always recommended to those who want to watch a good shark flick starring these awesome killers of the deep.
The Requin movie, however, unfortunately, lives up to the smack being banded about. As a fan of Silverstone’s 90s comedy and drama films, I like her style. She reminds me of a vanilla non-gritty version of Juliette Lewis. Given Silverstone’s quirky likability and presence on screen, I think her performance in this title was fairly good. Her character is extremely whiny but she didn’t write her lines. But I’m not sure Silverstone is the right fit for thriller movies, like this. I like her for comedy and drama and most recently, she was amazing in Sister of the Groom. But perhaps not this type of film.
“The Requin” is a Shark of the Tropics
The dialogue in most of the interactions was what annoyed me the most. Rather than being frustrated with the delivery of the conversations between Jaelyn and her husband Kyle, I was disappointed with the lengthy dramatic scenes. For a story that features a poster of a massive shark, there are no sightings of the aquatic creatures until around the one-hour mark.
Given the film has a runtime of only 1 hour 29 minutes, the rest of the film is really about coping with loss. Of course, there’s no better time to revisit your grief than while floating at sea on a storm-ravaged bungalow. In addition, The Requin chooses to add in some extremely poor decision-making too. Most of it gets chalked up to Jaelyn blaming her husband for always making the choices in their lives.
Special effects are a little on the sketchy side too. With most of the gore and gruesome graphics promised by the R-rating, I was bewildered by the mostly off-screen antics of our sharks. This is combined with some poor sound effects and unconvincing green-screen backdrops. In one scene towards the end of The Requin, Jaelyn is treated to at least 5 chomping sounds on her leg. When she reaches the shore, she is injured but then walks a pretty long way. For some reason, a smoke machine was used as she traverses the sand looking for signs of life.
This only added to the mystery of choices made for cinematography. Even the background music was oddly selected with most of it sounding more appropriate for a romance movie.
Shark Attack Movies
By the end of the Requin, the massive difference from shot to shot in the size of our main antagonist was too much. The tension fell away (if there ever was any) and any chance of redemption was truly lost at sea. Similar to another person I saw ranting about this 2022 shark film, I was kind of rooting for the shark too.
The Requin is rated
1.5 Set your bungalow on fire out of 5
The Requin Movie – Where to Watch
You can stream The Requin for free in the UK on the Virgin TV Go platform. For more options on where to watch The Requin movie start with Apple TV and go from there. Pick your favorite and watch it from home. The cheapest way to watch Requin is on Hulu with a subscription.
The Requin is streaming on:
The Requin, A Shark B-Movie Starring Alicia Silverstone - Mother of Movies
Director: Le-Van Kiet
Date Created: 2022-01-28 12:37
1.5
Pros
- Alicia Silverstone is in it
Cons
- Sharks aren't featured until the final quarter of The Requin
- Advertised as a tense shark movie but is more a drama movie about loss
- Whiny characters
