The Reef: Stalked (2022) User Reviews

It's not good, but it's not altogether terrible either.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 4/10 · 7 December 2022]

A group of friends go into the water, and encounter a white shark.

Not the most original plot it's fair to say, however there are a couple of shark movies that make the grade, because they offer something original, something a little different, sadly this is not one of them, it is instantly forgettable, with nothing of any particular note happening. It's another of those movies that does nothing to promote the wonder of sharks, just plays into an outdated idea of them being man eating monsters from The Sea.

There are a few moments of suspense, I'll give it that, a couple of scenes where you don't quite know what's going to happen, or where the shark is, so I'll applaud them for that, I'll also say I quite liked the music in parts too, it wasn't overdone.

The major problems though, first off, the acting, it wasn't particularly good, and secondly the shark itself, I'm not a shark expert by any means, but this one, was behaving in a very strange way, I'm not sure they behave in such a way, I could be wrong.

It's not often you watch a film like this and root for the shark, however on this occasion, I did.

4/10.

Grade A Shark B Movie!

[Stujohnston1 · 3/10 · 9 December 2022]

I can honestly say I have never watched any shark film, where everyone has no interest in paddling to safety! Even down to the bailing water out of the boat to stop it sinking bit -- nothing!

There was a lot of pootling around on the water, even when they've been attacked by the shark, they just sat on the water and did nothing (other than tell it off!). Also, the journey back appeared to be 100 times longer than heading out with no land in sight...!

I was also surprised that this had 4.4/ 10, I can only surmise that the 4.4 was for the shark -- as he was the best bit, consistant, and great, and white, and even that was dodgy CGI!

We don't know how to even paddle...

[guinden · 3/10 · 26 July 2022]

Since the movie is horrible the script is kinda bad and the acting is meh at least make the actors learn how to paddle. Just put in some effort please!

It was painful to see how they were caressing the water throughout the entire movie.

There is some tension but one character one minute shocked and useless and the next she is freacking female rambo. CGI bad which is the least problem with this movie. There are plot armors everywhere shark easily takes down a grownup but can barely bite a tiny little girl. Come on writers!

Also i don't even get the main character problem. Her sister gets drown by a guy in a bathtub therefore she is afraid to dive in sea? Like what?

Only watch it if you have nothing better to do or drunk.

Stalked, perhaps. The Reef, definitely not.

[wdrphotographics · 4/10 · 10 November 2022]

The acting is very wooden, but with the script and direction you can't really ask for better. The editing is a touch odd, for example, causing time to stand still as one of the kayakers paddles hard to get to an island to warn kids jumping off a raft to get out of the water. It seems to take forever, while the couple she left behind to recover from shock arrive at almost the same time as her.

As others have already said, the CGI isn't the best and the live shark images look as if lifted from a documentary. These things can be forgiven if the movie is enjoyable, but in this case it's hard to find much to enjoy.

Only giving it 4/10 for the actresses getting in the water in Australia.

Absolutely a painful waste of time, could not sit through to the end.

[giochismith · 1/10 · 28 February 2023]

The story line was beyond awful. The acting was even worse.

Nic's flashbacks of her sister's drowning made no sense as she was not present during her sister's drowning. Nic should not have flashback images of Cath's point of view experience or the boyfriend's point of view experience of the drowning event. The actress playing Nic was so terrible at being center.

When she went to go help her sister, she did not show any urgency of finding her sister, even after seeing a photo frame and sunnies on the floor. It was also laughable that those were the only 2 items on the floor to indicate a "big" fight occurred.

Did the boat have a leak? If so, why did the leak stop when no one was bailing?

Best acting award goes to the kayaks. They were absolutely natural.

When you want the shark to win.

[Dodge-Zombie · 2/10 · 27 July 2022]

I'm gonna keep this short. Terrible acting. Like really terrible. Very poor script. Like most shark movies obviously takes inspiration from "Jaws" but it's barely the same sport.

Characters doing stupid things and saying even dumber things. When talking about sharks one of the characters actually says "It's the big ones you need to look out for".

Dismissed.

Shark stalker

[MB-reviewer185 · 3/10 · 28 July 2022]

The Reef: Stalked (2022) is a standard bad movie. This movie is slow in the first 10 to 20 minutes, and it takes its time to get to the shark attacks.

The characters are standard, and when you see a backstory for one of the characters it does not give much for you to get behind them. I mostly did not care enough about them surviving the shark attacks.

The shark had a stock footage feel to it and when it attacks, I cannot see what is happening. The shark takes its time when attacking the characters, and it does things I do not believe it would do.

The shark attack scenes have a lot of shaky cam bubbles covering up what is happening, and the movie has an ending that I thought was average and slow paced.

I cannot recommend The Reef: Stalked (2022), because this movie is boring at times, and it has false jump scares or jump scares you can see coming.

Yeah sure.

[artur-niedzielski · 2/10 · 25 July 2022]

So scarry that I was asleep in the middle. Stop writing this 10/10 score. New accounts - friends of director. Plese stop this is rubbish. Another one crappy movie with sharks. There is only one film scarry about sharks ever and it was Jaws.

I've seen worse

[russhird · 6/10 · 3 August 2022]

Perfectly acceptable acting by all concerned. No hint of the dreaded C. G. I. Shark. Yes they make some ridiculous choices, but it kept me entertained.

Not like the laugh out loud film starring Alicia Silverstone. Now THAT was terrible.

weaker shark movie

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 22 December 2022]

Sisters Cath and Nic with friends Jodie and Lisa have fun kayaking in the ocean. Nic is murdered by her partner and Cath is traumatized. Jodie and Lisa try to bring her back to life with another tropical vacation. They brought along younger sister Annie. The girls and local children get attacked by a great white shark.

It's another shark movie. The ladies are beautiful. There is some trauma before the shark. There is the shark. As often the case, the shark looks fine in the water, but can look bad when it comes out of the water. Worst still, it doesn't act real. Apparently, it's a battering ram and a stalker. It's the hallmark of a B-shark movie. As for the ladies, there are moments of poor judgement. It's the little things that they don't always do. It would also be reasonable to have one of the local woman join them. All in all, it's a below average shark movie.

Not as good as the original Reef but ....

[metallianprod · 9/10 · 27 July 2022]

Not deserving of the bad reviews listed here. The original is my favorite shark film next to Jaws. Way better than most other shark films being put out. This new film is not in that league but it was a great watch.

Decent

[arne-vst · 7/10 · 31 July 2022]

To start my review; It is my opinion to rate a movie by its genre and for the purpose it has been made.

That being said, I really do not understand all the low scores that have been given to this movie.

In its genre it's a really decent and overall good entertaining movie.

There has been made use, in a clever way, of real great white shots with well timed action shots with the actors.

Causing a realistic showing on how it must feel to be stalked / attacked by a great white.

Only in one case is there a REALLY BAD cgi moment. I'll let you as the viewer decide when that is :-).

I also believe it's a pretty realistic film. There is no over the top moment as in other shark movies, which is really great to see.

Yes, it may be unbelievable that all these things with 1 shark are happening. But viewed separately the definitely could happen.

In my opinion it is not as good as the first 'The Reef'. That one really stands out in many ways.

But this is a good movie in its genre and I am glad I got to see it.

Do not believe the 1/10 ratings, cause it makes no sense.

Even when taking into account the sometimes bad acting, or other stuff you might dislike, there's definitely enough to like about it.

Again: judge by genre, do not compare it with a big Hollywood production or an Oscar worthy film.

Not enough shark

[Sofiegreenwood · 1/10 · 23 November 2022]

Signed up for a shark film, got a kayaking film.

Boring dialogue and poor paddling skills. The characters were mediocre, and hard to connect with. Would be interesting to know the total budget for this movie. Not sure it costs very much to hire 4 kayaks and a beaten up boat for an afternoon of filming.

There's nothing better than a shark film, and this was seriously lacking. The shark got maybe 5 minutes of screen time, but should have been the main character. No suspense when he was off screen, just disappointment.

Would have to give it one star - boring movie and most importantly, NOT ENOUGH SHARK!!

Inconsistent

[seasidesaffa · 2/10 · 5 January 2023]

Whilst the plot is weak, and the script very poor, I can't get over the thoughtlessness between the script and the associated actions on screen as an earlier reviewer has also pointed out. There seems to be an absence of realism in quite a few scene's. How one lady gets attacked twice and doesn't end up with a mark on her is quite extraordinary.... and when her friend gets attacked, there is once again no bite marks... Everytime we saw the boat it was in calm placid still water, everytime we saw the water with the shark, there was slightly choppy water and wave movement... It seems the "realism editor" (if there is such a thing, then they sure needed it on this movie) had the day off.

Just wow

[sarahkubar · 2/10 · 24 February 2023]

I am an hour into the movie and I am so disappointed. How did this come from the success that was The Reef? Come on. That movie was so good. Had such great suspense. Pretty good acting. Wonderfully realistic shark. How did this happen with The Reef: Stalked?? If it's the same director? HOW???

Most of the acting is absolute crap, the shark looks good in some shots and then looks like a CGI sticker in others. There's always gotta be some kind of unnecessary trauma or something with a main character because they think it'll make the story better AND they have to make the shark some kind of man eating beast who can destroy boats and pontoons because somehow just being a hundred million year old apex predator who has never had to evolve but has actually had to get SMALLER isn't enough to frighten people.

Wanted to be The Descent

[hlbrown · 2/10 · 29 July 2022]

At first I thought, ok, it's like The Descent, but in the ocean. No. It's not. I am halfway through and struggling to keep watching. Everyone could get eaten, and I wouldn't care. The shark would probably get splinters because they are so wooden.

Unbearable to watch

[josefhuberII · 2/10 · 26 July 2022]

Could not watch it to the end, not even to the middle. It was so dull, stupid, boring and annoying, i had to quit to prevent a brain meltdown.

What a waste of time.

Utter garbage !

there is nothing to see here... back to "Shallow"

[nessundorma-1 · 4/10 · 25 July 2022]

I am a huge fan of "shark" movies and honestly in the last 5 years or so there was surprisingly many good movies with this theme. My top is definitely "Shallow" and very good one was "47 Meters Down".

This one has many flaws in very basic aspects in this genre.

What do you need? You need good CGi, you need good acting and most importantly you need great directing so it would feel realistic.

1. CGi is 50/50 , you have real sharks (or at least it looks like it) but the problem is it looks like a documentary movie, which is not a good sign. And then you have bad very unrealistic scenes with shark. So most of the time it doesn't fit the movie

2. Memorable scenes, you will not find a single one. And that is bad. You will see 10x the same scene with a fin on the surface, you will see lots of bubbles and splashes and you will see few times something under the surface (should be shark) that looks like someone draw it with a marker.

3. Victims and story. Sometimes filmmakers have tendency to forget what genre they are filming. This seems that case. This really feels like a drama with her personal trauma set in the water where by a chance is THE shark. It should be other way around. Another thing is, don't try to force some pathetic story to "catastrophic" movie. There is no need. This should be about surviving, not about trying to overcome your fears of diving. On top of that when you lost someone, it is more than obvious they will not make a movie you will loose someone else. So after 10 min you know who will survive and who will not.

It's not hard to have a right vision for this kind of movies, but why filmmakers are trying to do something "more" is beyond me?!

Overall this is slightly below average movie. There is really no need to watch this because you will be disappointed and after 40mins you will check how many more minutes it will take to end this "journey"

Not brilliant, but not not horrible.

[oberholzerap · 6/10 · 31 July 2022]

Not brilliant, but definitely not a bad movie. Reasonable storyline with some good acting. Quite suspenseful. I found it entertaining. So, for a low budget production actually well done.

Amateur Shark

[olcayozfirat · 3/10 · 6 November 2022]

A shark attack themed thriller from 2022. In such films, the plot is clear, a group of people is stranded in the middle of the ocean and one or more people are saved while some of them are eaten by sharks. All the movies are the same. Here, the only element that makes the audience nervous in the movie is realism. The more realistic the shark and attack moments are read, the more successful the movie is. If we do not count those three-headed and five-headed nonsense, he also saw that it was made with a 3D modeling program, these eyes, which are obviously inflatable. In this movie, we watch the world's most novice shark. He's constantly skimming. This style has a guaranteed audience. But in recent years, a decent film has not been made. I've watched 4 movies in the last two years, 3 of them fiasco.

There is no sex or nudity in the movie.

Not Bad At All!

[mannyburgos-71357 · 8/10 · 28 July 2022]

Due to its low score and bad reviews, I almost didn't see this film. My wife, on the other hand, was determined to watch this. So I tagged along.

Glad that I had such low expectations because the movie surprised me. I actually enjoyed it. No major cgi sharks scenes. Very intense and suspenful at times. Even edge of your seat moments. I wasn't crazy about the very beginning. However, once the killer shark scene begins, it doesn't let you go.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and so did my wife. At the end, she even asked, "Why did this movie get such a low score? It was really good."

In short, give this a shot if you like shark movies. Not the best shark movie out there, but definitely enjoyable.

The blue, the rose and the gray

[cjonesas · 6/10 · 30 July 2022]

First words...

The movie title and screenplay are not remotely related to The Reef (a really bright nail-biting movie), shouldn't have dragged The Reef "initials" after itself and its same writer & director Andrew Traucki did a poor job in naming and promoting it as such.

That said, ...Stalked is a good movie up to the first kill. After that we just wait for it to finish. The acting is good though with true show of brave / frightened girly acting and emotions relational to itself, has gorgeous filming and cinematography and just heavily lacks in the logic and ending sections with average fields in between.

I for one don't compare it to Jaws, never had with any shark movie. Anybody doing so better stop watching future shark movies and have continuous re-watch of that suspenseful ground-breaking film.

What I liked most in ... Stalked was the acting and cinematography; what I disliked was the poor logic, average story, flow and ending.

There was a time before the first kill that despite the unrealistic situation and poor decisions, I stopped eating, stopped moving, eyes glued to the screen, while clinching my hands in dread and anticipation. Also, the water-level camera shots and filming were extraordinarily effective in ramping up the fear and tension. I have to admit though that after each heavy anticipation, what ensued was like a kitten jumping on a parrot chick in a kindergarten.

All that saying may depict an average to weak movie. It is not the case and just because the bad was more than the good, that doesn't mean that movie is an utter failure. It has character, it has courage and artificial wins in it against the predator and it nicely shows friendship and bonding. Although, if that bonding and friendship tightness ended up in the shark's stomach with torn up limbs and torsos, it would have been much more impactful.

And last but not least, to those viewers who rooted for the shark, I invite them to gather up in one nice friendly group at the ocean, actively change places with the girls, turn their "stupid" decisions to smart ones and beat the puny shark into a pulp.

I dare you...

• Screenplay/story: 5
• Development: 7
• Realism: 6
• Entertainment: 7
• Acting: 7
• Filming/cinematography: 8
• VFX: 7
• Music/score: 7.5
• Depth: 5
• Logic: 3
• Flow: 6.5
• Horror/thriller: 6
• Ending: 3.

I've Seen Worse

[skyflyerjen-53-760737 · 5/10 · 27 August 2022]

No, this wasn't the worst shark movie I've ever seen. Certainly not the best.

I did get pretty frustrated at the silly decisions the girls made, like releasing a perfectly good kayak when their own boat was slowly sinking.

Annie, the main character's sister, was a head-scratcher. She spends 80% of the movie looking frightened or paralyzed. Then she gets a little more gung-ho without much, if any, explanation. I mean, earlier in the movie she couldn't even find the courage to swim for her life, and later in the movie she snarls that she has a plan, and bravely wants to save a girl's life, but we don't see how she got to this point.

The flashbacks of Nic's were a bit too repetitive for my taste. I felt like every time the camera zoomed in on her she was reliving her sister's last moments. Speaking of which, a bit of backstory might have been nice; the audience wants to hear that the man responsible for her murder got punished. We get nothing except a brief talk about the funeral.

The shark scenes were pretty bad for the most part. There were some nice transitions of the real shark with a fake one, which is why this movie is alright. There was a scene that the shark looked VERY bad, extremely CGI, but the real shots of a real Great White looked good. When the movie couldn't use a real shark, they used a shaky camera and lots of bubbles. Not very exciting.

The movie would have been 20 minutes long if the girls had more brains; alas, a movie needed to happen. The girls spent more time looking upset than they did setting about completing their task. I joked at the end that the little girl had died because they couldn't figure out how to paddle correctly! They paddled way too casually for my taste. I understand not wanting to attract the shark, but when you can see it in the distance coming right at you, you might wanna paddle harder!

The good: Real shots of beautiful sharks Female power!

The bad: The story, mostly Bad decisions by the leads.

Looks like cast & crew voted

[painetim · 2/10 · 25 July 2022]

Looks to me like the cast an crew friends an family have been reviewing an voting this up no way is this a 9 or 10 its , boring predictable with very poor cgi , read reviews beforehand of which there were about 5 at that time before seeing this save yourself the time don't bother .

Utter rubbish!

[vellaruben · 1/10 · 25 July 2022]

What a joke!!! Anybody who gives this more than 1 star is either delusional or high, this is insanely bad. There is only one shark movie-JAWS. I am in disbelief how on earth movies like this keep coming up in this day and age. What a let down!