Deep Fear (2023) (Film Review)

Deep Fear (2023) A very good shark film… …but it goes without saying that the image is based on the plasticity of the lead actress. More on that later…

Honestly, I enjoyed seeing this film. It’s not one of the shark movies I’ll be watching regularly like ‘Survival Instinct/The Shallows (2016)’ or ‘47 Meters Down (2017)’. A good little JAWS is always nice, too. The first one, of course! It’s not a film I’d recommend (not even to fans of the genre), but it did its bit when I saw it and, that night, I wasn’t asking for more. And I don’t think it deserves to be put down like that.

Now about the lead actress. Indeed, her good looks must have helped promote this film. In fact, Mădălina (Diana) Ghenea began her modelling career at the age of fifteen for Gattinoni in Milan. She has taken part in fashion shows in Romania, Italy, Germany, Japan, Austria, Spain, France and South Africa. She has also appeared in advertisements for Peroni, Quelle and New Yorker. In 2007, she took part in the video for the song ‘Il tempo tra di noi’, taken from the album e² by Eros Ramazzotti. This brought her to the attention of the Romanian media.From 2011, Mădălina Ghenea took on a series of modelling contracts, notably with TRE-Italy, DEHA and Mille Miglia. In the same year, she appeared for the first time in the Italian film ‘I soliti idioti’. In 2013 she starred in the film ‘Dom Hemingway’ with Jude Law, as well as in the 2015 film ‘Youth’, which is a very good film. Her cast includes Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Paul Dano, Jane Fonda and Rachel Weisz. That’s it! She went on to star in other films, including La Trace (ro), released in 2020 and directed by Dorian Boguta (ro). In 2008, she was one of the stars of the famous Peroni calendar. As well as a photo, posted on her Instagram account, Ghenea also posted part of the interview she gave to the Italians. ‘Ceausescu ran a (communist) regime, but everyone had something to eat and there was no gap between rich and poor.’ She had a relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio and was also the girlfriend of Scottish actor Gerard Butler. So much for her!And what about the film? As you’ve probably gathered by now, the actress is the film’s main attraction. And that’s why the film isn’t a hit, except with a small minority, myself included.

People hated the shallow dialogue, the post-it note script and thought the actors were bad. Personally, I’d say that just because some of the characters are obnoxious, despicable, irritating and unbearable doesn’t mean they’re bad actors. But, yes, the film is a mixture of shark film and drug trafficking. The people involved in drug trafficking are never pleasant, agreeable, adorable or cute. So you have to look at the whole picture.

It’s true that Sharknado is ridiculous, but it’s completely self-assured, but I think it’s unfair to compare Deep Fear to the worst of the dinosaur movies. Some people say it’s not a ‘real’ shark film. They find the script rotten (although the idea isn’t fundamentally bad), the acting absolutely despicable, the special effects almost non-existent and ‘fortunately in the end because that would only have made this disaster worse!’ And that’s why the film isn’t a big hit, except with a small minority, myself included.

My Rating