Submerged (2016)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

best movie i've ever seen.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

SUBMERGED is a disappointing low budget thriller from the man who brought us the excellent little gem THE AGGRESSION SCALE. It's nowhere near on the same scale as that fine film; instead this is a single-location thriller that lacks suspense and thrills. The story sees an unlikeable bunch of teenagers trapped underwater in a limousine, but instead of focusing on their situation, the whole thing descends into endless flashbacks which go down the low rent thriller route. There are no recognisable or indeed likable actors here aside from Mario Van Peebles in a bit part. Overall, it's a big disappointment.

I've been visiting IMDb.com for over 8 years and this is my first online review, ever. I'm writing this review because I've seen a lot of bad movies, and this is not one of them.Maybe it's because of my age (I'm in my 40s), but I disagree with the negative reviews posted. Funny thing is, I almost skipped over this one because of the bad reviews -- I'm glad I didn't because this movie draws you in and, after the first 20 minutes, I was hooked... and you will be too.In this day and age where it seems all Hollywood can do is either create movies from comic book heroes OR remake classics, it's hard to find good movies to watch. Is Submerged the best movie ever made? No. But, it's definitely way, way better than average.I thought the director used the flashbacks very well in building the characters and telling the story. The acting was definitely above average and there is more than enough tension. Mario Van Peebles did a great job, too. Where the heck has Mario been?? Jonathan Bennett and Tim Daly also were very good -- the entire cast did well. Finally, the cinematography, the editing and the music are all top notch. I can't understand why all the bad reviews. Submerged is a good thriller and worth your while to watch.I'm not going to give any of the story away but if you are over 30 years old and you're looking for a good thriller to pass the time, don't pass this one up. It will keep you submerged... until the end.Kudos to the director, the producers, the cast... and everyone involved.

Or well, I hardly ever give one star to a movie. I can always find something to like about it. But this? This was a train wreck from start to finish. Honestly, why people give it good reviews is beyond me.It was the poster that intrigued me to watch this movie, I like photography and that looked like a poster from a movie I'd enjoy watching on Friday night. But, I actually spend more time playing a game on my phone than watching the actual movie - because I have a policy not to turn off movies, even when they suck. The acting was terrible, the multiple plot twist were terrible, the film angles and sound were terrible. Do I need to go on? Though the guy from Teen Wolf was kind of cute for the three minutes he was actually in the movie? Maybe he is the one star. To put it in one word, this movie was an entire NOPE.

Submerged is part about incessant screaming by the stereotypical rich kids and part obscure noir narrative. It's ambitiously fueled by back and forth timelines as well as a shot in the dark for thriller genre, all of which are below standard. The lack of focus, inconsistent acting and bad characterization make it a very suffocating experience to endure.Story opens up pretty interestingly with a reinforced car slowly drowning. It would've been better to stick with this core plot, instead it tries to be pretentiously clever with all sort of gangster subplots and highly unmemorable party junkie characters. The main lead has a couple of good scenes, although he still makes awkward expressions here and there. The rest of cast is even more imbalanced and as the pace shifts too many times, the plot ends up muddled and cumbersome.Acting is poor all around, mostly because the script only consists of expected blaming and yelling. Not that the characters have any shred of spark in the first place, these people are like 90210 rejects with brasher attitude. To make matter worst, one third of the movie is dedicated to build these personalities without any effective result. Never mind likable, audience probably wouldn't recognize them mid-way through the movie and wouldn't care less about their situation.Granted, it has some success with the thriller aspect of being confined in small space, albeit briefly. Then it falls like a rock in river with shady crime drama. There's a good ten minutes of standoff with people showing up literally behind each other while pointing gun. As if the random materialization isn't bad enough, the characters even engage in melee showdown while the camera insanely spins around them while they are making stupid faces.Submerged has one decent idea, which it intentionally ruins with so many awful presentation fiasco. This is an allegory of strapping a cinder-block to oneself and jumping off the bridge.