THE DEVIL'S MOUTH
Starring: Kathryn Newton, Lana Condor, Gavin Casalegno, Nico Hiraga, Tommi Rose, and Tayme Thapthimthong
Director: Jeff Wadlow
PAIGE
The Devil's Mouth may be director Jeff Wadlow's best movie to date, but that isn't saying much considering his resume includes Truth or Dare, Fantasy Island, and Imaginary. The script leans heavily into familiar genre tropes, but does manage to create a somewhat tense atmosphere. It's not as gory as I'd hoped from a shark thriller, but it does enough to make you feel the danger. Besides Kathryn Newton's character, the rest of the ensemble is pretty insufferable, and in a shark movie, you need to want the characters to survive. Instead, I found myself rooting for them to become shark bait.
KATIE
The Devil’s Mouth is so bad it’s… bad. Jeff Wadlow’s shark thriller is disappointingly dull, lacking any B-movie charm that would make its shortcomings entertaining. The dialogue is bland, the characters are unbearable, intensified by their nonsensical and often confusing decision-making, and it lacked thrills. It fails to build tension and it doesn’t help that it looks terrible and the CGI is shonky, so what you’re left with is characters you don’t care about thrashing around in the dark. Kathryn Newton, playing Sara, somewhat elevates The Devil’s Mouth beyond being unwatchable, but it’s still completely forgettable.
