Reviewed By: Flickman
Since I’m a sucker for both disaster flicks and shark movies, I figured I’d give the Netflix film Thrash a shot. I went in not seeing the trailer and only reading a few reviews. And once again I was reminded why I don’t put much stock in other people’s opinions. The amount of people calling this “trash” or slapping it with a 1-star rating is wild. A 1-star rating basically says “this is the worst movie ever made,” and I can say with full confidence that Thrash is absolutely not the worst movie ever made.
Now, is it great? No. But I had a good time with it. It doesn’t do anything new, but the acting is decent, the CGI is average, and the directing gets the job done. Sure, there are a few eye-roll moments and some performances that dip into “eh, okay” territory, but that alone doesn’t make it a bad movie. Honestly, the moment I saw Sony Pictures pop up at the start, I already knew this wasn’t going to be a total disaster. They’re not exactly in the business of stamping their name on complete garbage.
As for the plot: a Category 5 hurricane is about to slam into the U.S. East Coast. The storm breaches a levee, flooding the town and conveniently inviting a pack of bull sharks inland. Most residents evacuate, some decide to stay, others get stuck, and the unlucky few left behind now have to survive both a massive storm and a bunch of very hungry sharks. That’s the movie.
Now, let’s talk about the not-so-great stuff. First off, this movie is painfully predictable. Within the first five minutes, I had a mental list of who was living and who was getting chomped – and I nailed every single one. I’ll usually get a few right, but going 100%? That’s almost impressive in its own way.
My biggest issue, though, is Lisa – the pregnant character played by Phoebe Dynevor. I didn’t hate her character, but her decision-making and the situations she ends up in are…questionable, to put it nicely. For starters, she’s apparently due to give birth that day and is still at work while a massive hurricane is about to hit and the entire town has already evacuated. That alone deserves a pause.
Naturally, things go downhill fast. She gets trapped in her car as floodwaters rise up to her neck and starts screaming for help. Somehow, people hear her over hurricane-force winds and chaos, attempt a rescue, and promptly get eaten by sharks. The only person left is Dakota (played by Whitney Peak), who’s watching all this from a bedroom window. Lisa keeps screaming – even though there’s clearly no one left to hear her and no realistic way anyone could hear her anyway.
Then Dakota decides to play hero, climbs out the window, grabs a kitchen knife, and – no joke – cuts through what look like five-inch-thick tree branches pinning Lisa in her car. Effortlessly. Meanwhile, both of them are weirdly calm, like this is just another Tuesday. Rising water? Sharks nearby? No big deal, apparently.
And somehow… it gets even more ridiculous.
By the end, Lisa is floating on a bed inside a collapsing house with water up to the ceiling. As the house collapses and she makes a swim for it, she literally gives birth mid-flood, surfaces with the baby, cuts the cord with a stick, sets the newborn on a floating piece of wood, and then proceeds to fend off sharks. It felt like a callback to Titanic, except somehow less believable – and that’s saying something. The part that really broke me wasn’t even the shark-fighting postpartum survival – it was the fact that the baby stayed perfectly balanced on that piece of wood through waves, chaos, and everything else. Not even a wobble.
So yeah… pretty much everything involving Lisa pushed things a little too far.
That said, overall I still think the movie is decent. The pacing is solid, it’s under 90 minutes, and it’s an easy watch. Nothing about it is award-worthy, and it’s definitely not something you’ll be thinking about a week later, but if you like this kind of over-the-top disaster/shark combo, it’s worth checking out. It’s not for everyone, but it’s definitely not a 1-star movie either. I’ll mark this one as a hung jury because I understand how people might not like it, but there will be a lot of people that do.
Overall Verdict: If I had to guess, you'll probably enjoy it more than any of the Sharknado films, but not as much as Jaws. If you're a fan of both disaster and shark movies, it might be worth checking out.
Releasing: May 1, 2026
Releasing: May 1, 2026
Releasing: May 1, 2026