Thrash (2026)

I love me a disaster movie. What I look for in a good one is great characters thrown into a difficult situation, strategizing on how to survive, while working through their character issues. It's best when the overall "disaster" works as both the situational catalyst for the characters' arcs, but also as metaphor for what they are dealing with. Thrash doesn't get to any of that, instead just being a fun survival story which takes the premise of Sharknado but makes it more realistic. So what we get are a group of characters who have to deal with the flooding resulting from a storm while also facing off against a group of hungry sharks that are more than happy to eat whomever they come across. And lets just admit it, Shark movies are fun and touch on something deep within the human psyche. 

Thrash does what it needs to to be what it wants to be. It sets up who the characters are, that the storm is coming, and that there are sharks in the water. Then it just lets its adventure play out. It's a little lazy on the character development (everyone is pretty two-dimensional), but we get enough of a who's who to get invested. It's pretty obvious who will survive and who won't as Thrash follows all the rules of the genre. As in most disaster movies, people get what's coming to them. The central (likeable) characters all make it out alive with only those we hate getting justice by being eaten by the sharks, or those who step up to be heroes but aren't necessarily that important to us. Don't expect the movie to defy any of your expectations. But if you like a movie that does just what you want it to do, then Thrash is for you. 

The shark action is fun and the film keeps you on the edge of your seat. Scenrios are set up to make for great shark attacks. Kids stranded in a flooding house. A woman giving birth and having to save her baby while swimming in shark infested waters (which leads to the film's greatest line "Mama just has to go and fight so FUCKING sharks!"). If you can get over the silliness of the story, Thrash ends up being a lot of fun without tipping into extreme goofiness like the Sharknado films I referenced. 

Yes I know it probably sounds silly critiquing the film for not finding deeper meaning and more powerful story arcs for a Netflix original movie about sharks in a storm, but I've seen movies rise above their station and it's always a pleasant surprise when they do (Twister is a masterpice). And when they don't I remind myself it's fine and I can still enjoy it, which I did with Thrash. So yeah a part of me always wishes there could be more here but I still had a fun if somewhat forgettable time.

Thrash

Starring: Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak, Djimon Hounsou 

Writer/Director: Tommy Wirkola