Amazon Prime’s latest shark thriller, The Devil’s Mouth, arrives in the middle of a year already saturated with shark movies. With about six released so far and more on the way, the film faces the challenge of standing out. While it may not match the heights of Jaws or Deep Blue Sea, it offers a solidly entertaining B-movie experience, aided by an unusual ingredient: a toxic friendship at its core.
A different kind of shark movie
Unlike recent entries that add serial killers, hurricanes, or drug cartels, The Devil’s Mouth keeps things relatively simple. The special twist is a disintegrating female friendship, asking what happens when you realize how awful your best friend is just as a bull shark starts picking off your group. The script, from TV writers Aja Gabel and Myung Joh Wesner, doesn’t fully thread that needle, but it adds effective tension to a familiar genre flick.
Set in Thailand with a college friend group
The story is set in Thailand, amid ecosystem-shifting storms. A group of American college friends travel before entering the real world. The leads are privileged and controlling Max (Lana Condor) and softer, more submissive Sara (Kathryn Newton). Their dynamic is already tense due to a careless mistake and jellyfish wounds. Max’s docile boyfriend James (Nico Hiraga) and an overly amorous couple (Gavin Casalegno and Tommi Rose) try to keep the peace, but unresolved drama follows them into a cave exploration.
Their guide (Tayme Thapthimthong) assures them the freshwater caves are shark-free, but recent disturbances have pushed an aggressive bull shark into the system. The setup recalls 2019’s 47 Meters Down sequel, with scuba-diving teens trapped in underwater caves. However, the film also falls into contemporary survival thriller tropes, including trauma-laden backstories for both leads, who are part of the “dead parents society.”
Director Jeff Wadlow’s efficient chaos
Director Jeff Wadlow, known for varied horror films from Truth or Dare to Imaginary, handles the unfolding chaos efficiently. While he rarely pulls viewers to the edge of their seats, there are enough jolting and gnarly moments to keep engagement. The bull shark is shown bashing at rocks and bones.
The horror of the predicament exposes cracks in the central friendship. Max’s need to control above water translates to dominating life-or-death decisions in the caves. The writing could be spikier and more consistent—Max is both in charge of every detail yet allergic to logistics—but it adds gristle to the finale. Condor plays the obnoxious rich kid well, but Newton steals the show, rising above B-movie fodder to find strength to stand up to her friend and take charge.
The toxicity isn’t sharp enough to give The Devil’s Mouth real teeth, but it adds more than just body parts to the water. In an overly prolific time for shark movies, that counts for something. The Devil’s Mouth is now available on Amazon Prime Video.
