PLOT: A group of college friends’ Thailand adventure turns deadly when they become trapped in submerged caves with a dangerous predator. As oxygen runs low, past conflicts emerge in their desperate fight for survival.
REVIEW: I’m sure there have been other periods that have been just as bad, but 2026 feels like the most shark movies we’ve ever seen released. It seems like every other week, there’s some new film, taking on sharks in a variety of ways. Or, well, maybe not so much with the variety, since most shark films always seem to follow similar paths. Sadly, The Devil’s Mouth is no different, following a group of college friends going cave diving, only to run into a killer shark. But is this the type of film where we’re rooting for them to get out alive, or rooting for them to get eaten? Well…
I was surprised to see The Devil’s Mouth forgo an opening kill, as it’s practically synonymous with horror, especially shark movies. Due to this, we don’t actually see any shark action until well over 30 minutes in. Which wouldn’t be a problem if spending time with these characters were at all tolerable. But half the time, I found myself questioning whether they even liked each other. At a certain point, I questioned whether the first act’s entire purpose was to get me to want to see these people as shark bait. Because if that was the desired reaction, they nailed it.
When it comes to likable horror leads, Kathryn Newton practically feels like a cheat code, as she always brings an instant likability to her characters. Which is good, because she’s really the only person to root for here. Lana Condor‘s Max is overly controlling, while not really knowing what she’s talking about, so it makes her really unlikable. It seems intentional to give her some flaws, but it goes pretty overboard, making her someone I was actually rooting for the shark to get. Which is a pretty common occurrence for anyone who’s not Newton. Nico Hiraga, Gavin Casalegno, and Tommi Rose round out the group of friends, and they’re all just such generic teen leads that they tend to blend together.
As much as I watch horror on a consistent basis, the only subgenre that really “gets to me” is the one involving these little aquatic murder machines. I become an anxious mess, and my Apple Watch starts acting like I’m having a cardiac event. So it’s disappointing to say that The Devil’s Mouth is severely lacking in tension. I think one element that makes shark movies so scary is the unpredictable nature. You look at someone out swimming in the vast ocean, you just never know when a shark is going to breach or take them down. The fact that we’re mostly in a cave gets rid of that, and the shark’s behavior becomes so much more choreographed.
I absolutely loved the look of the cave system, as it’s done practically and almost has a coziness to it. Odd to say for a shark movie, but The Goonies won me over with cave sets at a young age. The titular Devil’s Mouth is also a very cool design. It’s just hard not to be constantly distracted by the film’s stereotypical plot beats. The manufactured drama made me want to shake these people and tell them, “Hey, your relationship drama doesn’t matter right now, there’s a shark trying to kill you.” And they didn’t even give me some fun kills to make up for it.
There’s nothing more disappointing than watching a shark movie and finding out it’s PG-13, as the kills tend to be the most entertaining element. Since they can’t show any gore, every kill is done so quickly and mostly off screen. It makes all them feel a bit like déjà vu and they can feel like the same thing over and over. And why is this shark so damn hungry? This is a problem that many shark films have: the shark has an insatiable appetite. This gets compounded by the fact that there’s just the one shark. I did like that, since it’s a bull shark, they use utilize different hunting tactics, like how the creature would ram its prey. Though, it’s hard not to notice what a big point they make that “sharks can’t swim backwards” only to have them swim backwards multiple times in the film.
I really wanted to like The Devil’s Mouth but it just ended up being sort of okay. Kathryn Newton elevates it, but no one else seems to really be showing up to make an impact. The shark FX are overly CGI, and the PG-13 rating hampers any sort of creativity with the kills. But the cave set is really impressive and gives us some cool visuals. And I’ll always appreciate a shark film that gives us something other than a Great White. I just wish it had done anything else unique.
The Devil’s Mouth is streaming on Prime Video on July 29th, 2026.
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