By Jonathan Marsh
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Few horror films in recent memory have managed to blend breathtaking beauty with sheer, unrelenting dread as effectively as Into the Deep (2025). Directed by Underwater’s William Eubank and produced by A Quiet Place’s Michael Bay, this deep-sea nightmare is equal parts The Abyss, The Descent, and Jaws—a claustrophobic, high-stakes survival thriller that will leave audiences gasping for air.
A Simple Premise, A Terrifying Execution
The setup is deceptively straightforward: a team of marine biologists and deep-sea miners, led by the brilliant but haunted Dr. Lena Voss (The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby), embarks on a record-breaking dive to the unexplored depths of the Mariana Trench. Their mission? To investigate a newly discovered thermal vent system that could hold the key to renewable energy. But when their state-of-the-art submersible is damaged by an unexplained seismic event, the crew finds themselves trapped nearly seven miles below the surface—with something lurking outside.
What follows is a masterclass in slow-burn tension. Eubank, known for his striking visuals, crafts an oppressive atmosphere where every creak of the hull, every flicker of the lights, ratchets up the paranoia. The film’s first act is a patient, immersive descent into the abyss, with stunning underwater cinematography that makes the eventual horror all the more jarring.
Monsters—Human and Otherwise
The real terror of Into the Deep isn’t just the unseen entity stalking the crew—it’s the psychological unraveling of the team itself. Kirby delivers a powerhouse performance as Lena, a woman wrestling with guilt over a past failed expedition, while Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn shines as the cocky engineer whose bravado quickly turns to panic. The standout, however, is Moon Knight’s Oscar Isaac as the mission’s veteran pilot, whose calm demeanor hides a dark secret.
When the creature (or creatures?) finally reveal themselves, the payoff is worth the wait. Avoiding cheap CGI, Eubank relies on practical effects and shadowy glimpses to terrifying effect. The design—a grotesque, bioluminescent nightmare—feels ripped from a deep-sea biologist’s worst fever dream.
A Feast for the Senses (and the Nerves)
The film’s sound design is a character in itself. The groans of the sub’s metal, the distant, unidentifiable clicks and screeches from the void—every auditory detail is calibrated to trigger primal fear. The score, by Annihilation’s Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, is a haunting mix of electronic pulses and deep, resonant drones that heighten the sense of isolation.
Visually, Into the Deep is a triumph. The sub’s interiors are sleek yet claustrophobic, while the exterior shots—filmed using groundbreaking underwater drones—are eerily beautiful. One sequence, where the crew’s floodlights illuminate a sprawling, alien-like coral reef, only to reveal something moving just beyond the light, is pure nightmare fuel.
Does It Stick the Landing?
If the film falters slightly, it’s in a third act that leans a bit too heavily into familiar creature-feature tropes. A late-game twist involving the true nature of the threat is intriguing but underdeveloped, and one character’s abrupt shift in behavior feels unearned. Still, the final 15 minutes—a desperate, oxygen-deprived scramble for survival—are so viscerally intense that most viewers will forgive the stumbles.
Final Verdict
Into the Deep is a rare beast: a horror film that’s as intellectually engaging as it is terrifying. It’s Gravity meets Alien at the bottom of the ocean, anchored by stellar performances and a director who understands that true horror lies in what you don’t see. While not quite as revolutionary as The Descent or as tightly crafted as The Thing, it’s one of the most gripping and original horror films of the decade.
4/5 – A white-knuckle descent into the unknown. Just don’t watch it before a beach vacation.
Into the Deep dives into theaters October 10, 2025. Bring a life jacket
