'The Devil’s Mouth' review: Survival thriller appears out of fin air
- S.J.
- 16 hours ago
- 3 min read
When filmmakers decide to make something to justify their vacations in fancy locations, once in a blue moon you get an 'Influencer', which is actually worth your time, but more often you get a project produced by Adam Sandler or a Jeff Wadlow-directed effort. Hence, we're entering The Devil's Mouth. We find ourselves in Thailand, accompanied by a group of friends—single lady Sara (Kathryn Newton), bossy ringleader Max (Lana Condor) who is dating James (Nico Hiraga), and a second pair of lovebirds a.k.a disposable pieces of meat named Adrienne (Tommi Rose) and Greg (Gavin Casalegno). They talk about and do all sorts of relatable things like rent a yacht. Their next group activity is cave diving, Wat (Tayme Thapthimthong) and Ryan (Harrison Luna) acting as their guides in the cave system that gives the movie its title. Soon enough, they're tormented by the elements as well as a bloodthirsty bull shark. Chaos ensues.
A flavourless slog with barely any thrills but plenty of shoddy acting, unpleasant characters and weak technical execution. Yeah, sounds like one of (if not the) worst working directors in Hollywood has returned to the scene of the crime with another time waster. We start our exotic getaway with American tourists being a pain in the butt, meathead dialogue and one of the worst title sequences in recent history as you're bombarded with a needle drop that makes you want to stab your ears. And if only that were the only awful musical moment we have to endure, but no, somehow composer Bear McCreary's score turns out to be perhaps the most somnolent, dry-as-hell component of this so-called film. Believe me, the competition for said championship belt is unrelenting. It's not a surprise, though, if you're familiar with Wadlow's sheer incompetence when it comes to music in his projects.
There's admittedly a little bit of competence sprinkled in as far as the use of some practical locations and stunt diving—a seamless blend of stunt doubles and actors, for the record—is concerned, but that will only get you so far. One huge problem is that you want these tourists to die because they're so annoying, loud and inert (expect lots of screaming and crying without any tears), but the kills aren't fun or creative, which is an absolute must if you choose to go this route. As a result, The Devil's Mouth crumbles because it neither features well-written characters nor pure entertainment value when it begins eliminating people. Aja Gabel and Myung Joh Wesner's screenplay has no spark or substance, and Wadlow and his creative team's translation of it makes sure that it drowns and undergoes a traumatic death. The VFX for the shark is especially horrible and the gore is unconvincing. At least we get decent eye light, if we want to be generous.
Even the actors seem battered by the material and guidance they're given. Thapthimthong is the only performer in the ensemble who shouldn't feel a bit embarrassed. Hiraga and Rose are barely there, Casalegno and Condor (whose character should probably be named Min) are mostly giving bad performances, whilst Newton can barely deliver some of her lines and stage directions without vomiting, including in the cringeworthy final shot. I'm sure this job came with some nice holiday memories and a fine paycheck, but other than that, you can't really feel like any of them truly enjoyed working on their craft here. It seems like everyone was left with a nasty taste in their mouth. This movie and its breath stink.
Smileys: None
Frowneys: Score, direction, VFX
If you mess with the bull shark, you'll get the teeth.
1.0/5
[Editor's note: Apologies for the image quality, Prime Video did not provide high-quality stills before the publication of this review.]
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