Shark Bait (2022)

Shark Bait is the kind of lean, mean survival thriller that understands its greatest special effect is panic: one reckless decision, one sickening impact, and suddenly the open ocean feels like an endless, indifferent trap. Director James Nunn keeps the pace tight and the tension nasty, balancing sun-bleached realism with jolts of shark-movie brutality that land because the characters’ fear and injuries feel uncomfortably immediate. It’s not trying to reinvent the genre so much as deliver a crisp, high-adrenaline ride—part action sprint, part horror endurance test—where every splash sounds like a question mark. Fair warning: the violence is graphic and the vibe is grim, so it’s not for the squeamish, but if you want a brisk, nerve-racking watch that makes the sea look like the scariest place on Earth, this one bites hard.

Shark Bait is trying to be a lean, sun-scorched survival thriller where one stupid decision snowballs into a shark-infested nightmare, and on paper that’s a perfectly serviceable setup. The problem is it leans hard on familiar shark-movie beats and thin, often unlikeable characters, so the suspense doesn’t build as much as it just repeats: panic, argument, attack, rinse, repeat. If you need smart writing, fresh twists, or people you actually want to see survive, this will likely feel like time treading water. If all you want is brisk, nasty creature-feature carnage with some grim ocean atmosphere (and you can handle graphic injuries and heavy swearing), it does deliver enough bite to keep you watching.