“Thrash”
Mother Nature unleashes a massive storm that floods a coastal town and within its waters comes an unexpected peril: bull sharks—notoriously aggressive and lethal. As I watched “Thrash,” I kept thinking I had recently seen this movie, and I had, the 2019 gator-invader horror flick “Crawl” — pretty much the same thing: a Cat 5 hurricane, a slightly different locale (Florida versus South Carolina) and sharks subbing in for the gators.
In a cloistered seaside burg, the levee breaks, and those who made the unwise decision to shelter in place — or failed to get out before the deluge — literally become shark bait. Adding chum to the waters is a tanker full of beef byproducts that gets ripped in half by a Civil War-era monument — its bloody red contents pluming into the rushing flow. Stranded atop a dining room table are three foster kids (Alyla Browne, Stacy Clausen and Dante Ubaldi) while across town, a waylaid orphan (Whitney Peak, “Home Before Dark”) tries to rescue a pregnant woman (Phoebe Dynevor, “Bridgerton”) trapped in a semi-submerged car. Hors d’oeuvres served early are the mean, rednecky foster parents and Good-ol’-boy Samaritans trying to aid the imperiled. Then there’s Nelly, a massive great white being tracked by the orphan’s shark-expert uncle (Djimon Hounsou) inbound aboard the mother of all zodiacs.
The name “Crawl” meant something — our heroes were trapped in a crawl space, plus that’s how gators move. “Thrash” doesn’t, because bull sharks don’t thrash (thrasher sharks do as they use their tails to stun prey). Bulls get their name because they ram with their head.
The CGI sharks and storm effects are well done. It’s a flimsy, ephemeral time lapse that swims by in an entertainingly compatible 90 minutes. Directed by Tommy Wirkola (“The Trip”), whom I initially confused with Tommy Wiseau of “The Room” fame (considered the worst movie ever made), who also made a 2023 fin back flick called “Big Shark.” Both Tommys need better film titles. — Tom Meek
Streaming on Netflix
“Hamlet”
Hamlet in all its variants seems to be the name on Hollywood’s lips these days, with last year’s “Hamnet” and 2022’s “The Northman,” based on the Danish poem “Amleth” that inspired Shakespeare to name his son Hamnet and write the play. Now there’s this bold new version, though too uneven to top the adaptations by Laurence Oliver (1948, Oscar winner), Kenneth Branagh (1996) and the 1990 spin directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Mel Gibson and Glen Close.
The setting is now, in the Indian section of East London, and the kingdom is a real estate empire. Riz Ahmed (“The Sound of Metal”) plays the title role, and his uncle Claudius (Art Malik), responsible for Hamlet’s father’s death, is poised to marry Hamlet’s widowed mother, Gertrude (Sheeba Chaddha) and take over the business. This modern take on the Oedipal-adjacent tale is directed by Aneil Karia, who won the 2020 Live Action Short Oscar with “The Long Goodbye” (also starring Ahmed). It’s bloody, muddled and at times downright riveting, thank to Ahmed’s, strong, slow simmer. At points, though, an aural din suffocates his quiet rage — the classic soliloquy comes amid the revving of a muscle car’s engine and loses its effect. Shakespeare is tricky; some change it up and catch fire (Baz Luhrman’s “Romeo and Juliet,” “My Own Private Idaho”) while others fail to spark (“Made Men” and the Ethan Hawke “Hamlet” from 2000 set in corporate New York). The Ahmed-Karia effort smolders. To be or not to be? Maybe, maybe not. — Tom Meek
Playing at Kendall Square Cinema
“Exit 8”
Based on the bestselling Japanese video game of the same name, “Exit 8” is far better than the other game adaptation in theaters, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” “Exit 8″ ably captures the surreal horror and creeping dread of the source material with no need of a power-up mushroom. A young man (Kazunari Ninomiya, of the J-pop idol group Arashi) steps off the crowded Tokyo subway and receives word that his ex-girlfriend is pregnant. She wants to know if she can rely on him as a father.
This proves to be the least stressful moment of his day. As he makes his way to the surface, our unnamed protagonist finds himself in an endless loop, walking down the same corridor over and over: the same posters, the same pile of trash, the same nondescript businessman passing him at precisely the same moment. Eventually, he notices a placard with a series of rules. He must pay close attention to his surroundings, and if he notices a single anomaly — even as minute as a doorknob in the wrong place — he must turn back. If he can complete this challenge eight times, he may leave the station. If he errs, he returns to the beginning — or worse.
“Exit 8” is both pretty faithful to its source and stands on its own as a singularly effective chiller. Director Genki Kawamura uses the minimalist trappings of the setting to full advantage, keeping us scanning each frame for the slightest oddity. The station is so eerily calm that when the trap does spring shut, as when our hero suddenly notices a tall figure standing directly behind him, it’s impossible not to jump in your seat. The story’s inherently repetitive nature is leavened by dizzying camerawork (not a single take, but it often feels like it) and a couple of ingenious shifts in perspective which twist the narrative in unexpected ways. The only real misstep is the story of the father-to-be, which saps the momentum every time he pauses for a phone call. But then we’re back in that endless, wonderfully excruciating hallway, wondering if we’ll ever see the light of day. Anyone who’s changed lines between Park Street and Downtown Crossing will surely relate. — Oscar Goff
Playing at AMC Assembly Row
A stronger
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