Shark movies have long been considered a sub-genre, whether its action, thriller or horror, sometimes even reducing films that aim to be something more substantial to just another shark film. Thrash is a survival thriller, bringing in severe weather and focusing on various characters in peril, but once the sharks start to appear the film very quickly enters the sub-genre as characters not only have to contend with mother nature on the weather front but also from vicious sharks taking advantage of the situation.
In South Carolina, when a Category 5 hurricane is predicted to hit coastal towns, residents evacuate. A few people remain behind, either because they believe they can ride out the storm or just too late to escape the wrath of the hurricane. Dakota, a young woman who has become agoraphobic since her mother died decides to stay home., Lisa, a heavily pregnant woman left by her fiance tries to leave town only to be swept up in the initial wave of damage and young siblings Dee, Ron and Will are forced to shelter by their foster parents.
With most survival stories, we usually focus on one or two people and watch them struggle to make it through whatever disaster is thrown at them. But here, Thrash follows various people through the storm and later, the sharks. This could have worked if the characters had been linked somehow or eventually ended up in the same place together, at least. Instead we get a disjointed fractured story, that is predictably surrounded by deaths of smaller characters that only provide blood and gore. The little information we have on each character also isn’t really enough for us to care who makes it to the end. Everyone is reduced to a stereotype, resulting in a lazy set up and making our real concern the sharks.
Aside from a very basic storyline, the effects are quite impressive and the stress factor is turns up to the max, especially during a rather horrific birth scene. As the water rises, so does our anxiety but at the back of our minds, we already know how this ordeal will end. Rescue is on the way, a predictable conclusion with no worry of a sequel looms.
