Review by John Delia
Very nicely produced, the acting, directing and cinematography take you into a weird horror flick that should entertain fans of the genre. Admittedly there has been a lot of films about underwater sea creatures that have become killers, but Sea Fever has a bit of a twist that separates it from others of the same type. I’m sure soon Hollywood will run out of ideas that involve horror from below, but in the meantime enjoy the mind of director and writer Neasa Hardiman.
A bio scientist, Siobhan (Hermione Corfield), goes aboard the fishing boat Niamh Cinn Oir to perform some tests on local sea-life. In addition to Siobhan there are six people on board, Freya (Connie Nielsen) the owner, Gerard (Dougray Scott) the boat Captain, Clara (Olwen Fouere) the cook, Johnny (Jack Hickey) crew member, Omid (Ardalan Esmaili) who runs the engines and other equipment and Sudi (Elie Bouakaze)Â his co-worker. They set out to sea on the fishing trip to bring in a huge haul of fish for money needed to continue their business.
As they are leaving port they are told by the Coast Guard that they are running a test explosion in a zone they will have to avoid on their way out to sea and miles from the coast. It happens to be right in the area of where they are going to fish. To add to a possible problem with the vessel is an omen of bad luck having red haired Siobhan on board. During an explosion set off by the coast guard the shock wave takes out the communications of Niamh Cinn Oir and the boat engines stop.
When a strange sea creature attacks the boat the ship-members have to fight off the creepy beast in order to say alive. Directed and screen writer Neasa Hardiman takes her audience on a boat ride to hell with a creature feature that may turn your stomach. She makes her water menace an enormous tentacle laden monster that has a very sick killing mechanism that could easily take out thousands of people on contact. I like the way she introduces the killer and then slowly shows its power.
The cast is very good and each character looks believable. As the boat owner and the one responsible for the safety of her crew is Connie Nielsen. She runs a tight ship and has a lot to lose if she doesn’t bring in a very large catch to pay her bills. But things are about to take a wicked turn as she finds herself trying to get everyone out of danger. Us older folks may remember her as Lucilla in Gladiator opposite Russell Crow and Joaquin Phoenix, others “The Following” TV series as Lily Gray, but most of the younger folks will know her as Queen Hyppolyta in Wonder Woman.
Also in the film is Hermione Corfield as the red head scientist Siobhan. At first the crewmembers are very leery of her thinking bad omen, but proving she can carry her own weight as a scientist they start to accept her. When she detects the sea monster and tries to save the crew, there isn’t much more she can do except convince them to follow her orders. You may recognize Corfield from Star Wars: Episode VIII- the Last Jedi as a wing-pilot or as Sawyer in Rust Creek.
Sea Fever has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains violence, gore and language. The film can be seen on Digital HD and Video on Demand.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A good film for Neasa Hardiman first big screen feature film and the genre fans. (3.5 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Connie Nielsen, Dougray Scott, Hermione Corfield, Olwen Fouere, Jack Hickey, Ardalan Esmaili, Elie Bouakaze
Directed and written by: Neasa Hardiman
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains violence, language and gory scenes
Running Time: 1 hr. 29 min.
Opening Date: April 10, 2020
Distributed by: Gunpowder & Sky/DUST
Released in: Digital HD/VOD check your local cable or satellite server for dates and times