Black Water review

Without Steve Irwin or Crocodile Dundee, the swamp-touring heroes of this Aussie thriller are all at sea when a killer snapper takes a fancy to their boat. Stranded in the mangroves, the only options for Lee (Maeve Dermody), Adam (Andy Rodoreda) and Grace (Diana Glenn) are to wait for rescue or plan an escape – not the easiest thing to do with a marauding reptile shadowing their every move. Despite standing torso-deep in tension, fear and desperation, Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich’s low-budget suspenser – another back-to-basics buttock-clencher à la Open Water and Adrift – rations out its money shots in a way that may leave some feeling shortchanged. Yet it still packs enough shocks to keep you gripped, not to mention a conclusion that refreshingly refutes the genre rulebook.