Thrash

Tommy Wirkola. Something of a legend in the horror genre, isn't he? I'm not a huge fan of the Dead Snow films, though I'll admit they're very entertaining. A few years ago, he also brought us the ultra-violent and highly entertaining I Onde Dager (The Trip in English), starring Noomi Rapace, Aksel Hennie and Atle Antonsen.

Now he's swapped the Norwegian countryside for hurricanes and sharks in an American coastal town in South Carolina. I'm going into this without any particular expectations, but at the same time I really do hope it's as entertaining as it sounds. I'm a sucker for shark films, even if there are few memorable ones. Deep Blue Sea is mindless and bloody silly, but it's still fantastically entertaining. We don't even need to mention Jaws. A classic. And I actually thought The Meg was really enjoyable, if you're prepared for what you're getting into: an angry Statham fighting a monster shark. It's fun, folks.

A quick word on the plot then. You've already got the gist. It doesn't take more than a couple of sentences. Abridged and translated: When a Category 5 hurricane devastates a coastal town, the storm surge brings with it destruction, chaos and something far more terrifying: hungry sharks.

You get the picture. It's not kitchen-sink realism. Because the kitchen sinks get swept away in the flood. Thrash doesn't drag its feet. It builds up the plot and the tension just as we'd expect from a disaster film. I think Thrash is relatively stylish. It gets by with simple means. We find ourselves in flooded shacks, out on flooded streets. The sharks are competently animated. It's not eye candy, but it doesn't make you angry either.

The dialogue is what you'd expect from this sort of film. The acting is much the same. There won't be any Oscar nominations, but we're spared the Razzies too. Everyone does a decent job. I actually think that sums up Thrash quite well. We know what we're getting, and if you don't expect anything more, you'll be satisfied. It's a bit like a bag of mixed sweets. You want the raspberries and liquorice, but you end up popping an orange sweet into your mouth every now and then. It's not brilliant, but it works.

There are a few scenes that offer a bit more edge. There are a couple of half-decent shark attacks, but nothing that stands out. Nothing that surprises. It's bloody, but it feels like they're holding back a bit. I can imagine that Wirkola, who's previously been allowed to go wild with the violence, has been tied to the director's and editor's chair. There's a scene where one of the main characters is supposed to throw "things that vibrate" into the water, and I immediately think, "I know Wirkola would have wanted to include a vibrator here, but Netflix said no, it'll be an electric toothbrush."

I've always had a soft spot for Djimon Hounsou. He doesn't get nearly enough screen time, though. Despite my reservations and having to keep my expectations in check so as not to get my hopes up for the next big shark action film (is that a genre? Well, now it is!), I still like Thrash. It doesn't offer anything particularly new. It isn't scary or overly thrilling, but it's still entertaining enough that I sit back and feel grateful that in 2026 I can watch sharks feasting on meat on a Friday night.

If I could make a wish out loud, I'd love to see some sort of crossover between this, Jaws and Deep Blue Sea. But with stylish effects, more tension and non-stop gore. And an LL Cool J who gets to say something cool along the lines of "You ate my bird."