Netflix’s New Shark Thriller Will Make You Clean Your House

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 19 seconds ago

In my household, one of our major guilty pleasures is shark movies. Most of them are a blend of two distinct genres: thriller and horror. These are two great tastes that don’t always taste great together, which is why these films always feel like a coin flip. Some of them are crowd-pleasing action schlockfests that are fun to watch with your friends over a few beers. Some, though, are so bad that you’d rather get devoured by a shark than watch until the credits.

Unfortunately, the new Netflix film Thrash (2026) falls into the latter category. The movie has a few things going for it, including some interesting effects that do their best to heave this disaster of a disaster film to life. It also features a number of unique characters, including one played by breakout Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor. Sadly, those qualities aren’t enough to save a film that feels like a snooze-worthy, waterlogged slog from beginning to end.

Shark Of Darkness

Compared to the shipload of shark movies on streaming, Thrash has a relatively unique premise. A small town on the East Coast is getting ready for the ravages of a Category 5 hurricane, with most residents evacuating. Those who can’t or won’t leave are in serious trouble when the sea wall is breached, flooding the full force of the ocean. Of course, the town is also flooded with sharks, leaving the beleaguered residents wondering what will kill them first: the rising water or the growing legion of bloodthirsty predators now patrolling every neighborhood.

While shark movies are decidedly hit or miss, I had relatively high hopes for Thrash. The film was directed by Tommy Wirkola, who previously brought us Dead Snow, a movie in which hapless medical students must fight a small army of Nazi zombies. More recently, he directed Violent Night, in which Stranger Things star David Harbor plays a cranky Kris Kringle who must survive his own Die Hard-like encounter with a group of armed thugs. Each of those movies provided the kind of memorable schlock that I love, so I hoped Thrash would be more of the same. 

Slow, Disconnected Plots

Unfortunately, the plot just meanders, a problem made worse by the fact that the characters never really gel together. Whitney Peak plays a character with agoraphobia, which neatly explains why she hasn’t evacuated in the face of a hurricane. But she has absolutely zero chemistry with Phoebe Dynevor, an expectant mother who could give birth at any moment. Their attempts to survive effectively form the A plot of the movie, while the B plot focuses on a group of redneck kids whose foster father has the intelligence and survival instincts of a slug.

Now, this can’t be emphasized enough: these plot threads do not intersect in any way. The A plot is more filled out, with its characters having more substantial things to actually do. Plus, Peak’s character has an uncle (the excellent Djimon Hounsou, who steals almost every scene) who is ever-so-slowly coming to the rescue. But the B plot is so sparse (it’s mostly foul-mouthed kids figuring out they need to get to higher ground) and so completely disconnected that it feels tacked on to pad the runtime. That’s ironic, because this unnecessary subplot makes the 86 minutes of Thrash feel like an eternity of misery.

From Splash To Splatter

As you might expect, this middling shark movie got “thrashed” by the critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 42 percent critical rating, putting this stinker of a film firmly in the “rotten” category. Adding some sea salt to the wound, it has a far lower 24 percent audience score, which is the real kiss of death here. Thrash was clearly aimed at general audiences looking for a popcorn film, but it turns out that sticking a Bridgerton star in the middle of a low-rent, shark-infested disaster film just wasn’t enough to hold even the most casual movie lover’s interest.

That is, ultimately, the worst sin of Thrash: for all its efforts at shlocky spectacle, most of this movie is downright boring. The effects are genuinely solid, and the actors are giving it their all, but this is a genre-mashing movie that effectively screws up two different genres. As a horror movie, it’s just not that scary, and as a thriller, it’s just not very thrilling. Even if you love shark movies, you’ll likely hate it because it pales in comparison to better movies on other streamers (seriously, just search for “shark” on Tubi; you can thank me later).

Wanting to see just how bad this Netflix original can get? Care to hate-watch this subpar shark film in all its garish glory? In that case, all you have to do is stream Thrash on Netflix today. If nothing else, this film will inspire you to be more productive. That’s because it will only take a few scenes before you realize that doing the dishes, taking out the trash, and vacuuming the house are all a much, much better use of your time than this deep-sea disappointment.