“The crew of a West of Ireland trawler, marooned at sea, struggle for their lives against a growing parasite in their water supply.”
**Warning spoilers ahead**
Siobhan (Harmione Corfield) is an introverted scientist who struggles to interact with people. Her college charters a fishing vessel to monitor something (isn’t exactly made clear what - perhaps I didn’t hear because the dialogue mix isn’t the clearest) for statistical modelling. A rag tag bunch of life-long fishermen and women are initially thrown by Siobhan’s red hair - a curse of doom for fishermen - superstitious of red heads. They set sail off the west coast of Ireland to trawl for fish. Straying off course into a restricted zone they encounter a creature which latches onto the haul of the ship…
Siobhan - Sea Fever
Where do I start reviewing the movie Sea Fever? A sea faring B movie which borrows heavily from far better movies like ‘The thing' and Invasion of the body snatchers.
I had hoped it would at least attempt to add something different to the mix besides having it located in the west of Ireland (although it didn't look like Galway bay despite a fishing map showing otherwise - probably Sweden considering the investors). The biggest problem is it offered little in the way of tension. The opportunity was there to have a really tight, claustrophobic movie. All the details we're there: A crew afraid of the newcomer who happens to have red hair. The old sea faring superstitions coming to the fore. A bio luminescent creature which spreads parasites that finds humans to be the perfect host. Which is a shame really that the movie is executed in such an uninteresting way.
The screenplay offered little in the way of surprises. It was inconsistent, choc full of silly character motivations and stilted dialogue. In the end it was a bit of a bore. You’re hoping it picks up but it never really does nor does it help that some of the editing choices leave the movie feeling flat and lifeless, highlighting some of the less than steller acting. To be fair the screenplay doesn’t give the actors really much to work with - the characters for what they are are single dimensional. It’s all ‘oirish ' accents dipping and resurfacing, screaming at one another and saying nothing of interest.
In the end I didn't buy many of the characters for example: Siobhan (Harmione Corfield) is supposed to be a scientist yet it takes her to nearly half way through the movie to look at slime under a microscope despite taking a sample in a petri dish. When she first encounters the sea creature which incidentally has eaten through the hull of the ship - she purposely rubs slime between her fingers - good contamination control there. At one point she also argues that bleach wont kill the parasites. Why? She knew nothing about them. They are a new type of organism. Instead opting to electrocute the ship to kill them. Interesting idea - poorly executed in the film. It just happens. A few sparks and the mast head of the ship bursts into smoke. That’s it.
Looking for Parasites - Sea Fever
Speaking of the story: 1. The Captain’s decisions albeit driven by greed and the fact that they are behind in crew payments are completely nonsensical - once they escape the clutches of the sea creature they decide to catch fish despite the creature following them. They could have easily gone back out the very next day. It begs the question how far exactly did they travel to trawl for fish the whole point of the story is the fact that they’re 36 hours away from land yet the map looks like it shows them off the west coast of Ireland - I’ve been on a scientific fishing trawler off the west coast of Ireland, trawled for fish and been back in port by the evening. Sixteen hours tops. It just didn’t make sense to me. 2. Siobhan’s sudden insistence that the creature must be saved under the guise of a frail eco-friendly excuse then suddenly electrocuting the ship when the script needed a boost. The list goes on and on..
For a director as experienced as Neasa Hardiman I was expecting more really. Her script never really explores the body horror aspect despite the one really good scene where a fisherman’s eyes explode unexpectedly. After that it becomes a bit of damp squib. It doesn't know what movie it wants to be instead opting to be middle of the road never committing fully to anything.
On a positive note the bio-luminescent creature looks really nice and the effects of the creature are all quite well done. The cinematography for the most part is solid.
It’s just a shame the movie wasn’t claustrophobic, filled with anxiety, tension and fear. That’s the movie it should have been.
In the end would I watch Sea Fever again? No, probably not.