The Most Terrifying Shark Movie Since Jaws Just Arrived on HBO Max (& It’s Based on a True Story)

by

The summer of 1975 changed movies forever with the release of Jaws. Steven Spielberg’s film didn’t just create the modern summer blockbuster; it launched a whole trend of monster movies, especially those featuring sharks. We’ve seen countless shark movies since then, from huge hits like The Meg to fan favorites like Deep Blue Sea. The influence of Jaws is still felt today, and a new terrifying movie has recently made waves on HBO Max.

The survival thriller Open Water is now available to stream on HBO Max, having joined the platform on February 1st. The 2003 film is based on the true and terrifying story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, an American couple who disappeared in 1998 after being left behind during a scuba diving trip off the coast of Australia. Their belongings later washed ashore, and they were never found. In the movie, actors Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis play a couple who get separated from their diving group and are left stranded at sea, surrounded by sharks.

Open Water’s Terror Lies in Its Believability

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9q1qJi1nMs

What makes Open Water truly frightening is how realistic it feels. Unlike the explosive horror of Jaws, it focuses on the terrifying consequences of a simple mistake, leading to a tragic outcome. The film trades big-budget thrills for a stark portrayal of humans vulnerable to the power of nature. It feels like a drawn-out, agonizing panic attack, highlighting the ocean’s immense emptiness and indifference, and the crushing realization that no help is on the way, leaving the audience to share Daniel and Susan’s sense of impending doom.

Even among shark movies, Open Water stands out for its realistic portrayal. Unlike Jaws, which created the image of sharks as intentionally malicious hunters, Open Water shows them behaving more naturally – acting out of curiosity and opportunity rather than revenge. The sharks don’t actively pursue the divers, but rather investigate them as something new, and their aggression slowly increases. This approach builds suspense and fear through what might happen, rather than relying solely on jump scares. As a result, Open Water is considered one of the most frightening, realistic, and unsettling shark movies since Jaws, and it remains effective even today.

What’s New on HBO Max?

If the movie Open Water (currently 71% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) doesn’t appeal to you, HBO Max has a lot of other excellent choices. February 1st saw the addition of many titles, including Insidious: Chapter 3, Life of Pi, MacGruber, The Notebook, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, plus many more.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

https://comicbook.com/movies/list/15-best-when-animals-attack-movies/embed/#

Read More

2026-02-01 19:40