"Black Water" is a film that prides itself on its realism, and realistic it certainly is. Just like reality, this film consists mostly of waiting, of desperately trying the same stupid plan again because it's the only plan you have, and awkward dialogue.
The story is about three young people getting menaced by a salt water crocodile in the Northern coastal region of Australia. The first twenty minutes is spent setting up the events. Pretty straight forward for a first act, except all the dialogue is the characters pointing out plot points to each other and the audience. It's painfully unnatural.
When our protagonists finally find themselves in the company of a rather vicious croc, they spent most of the remainder of the film up a tree. Their strategies for survival are reasonable throughout the film, but there's really only two options: stay put and hope they're found, or try to get to safety by their own means. This is established in the first few minutes of the second act, and then nothing happens. They consider both options, rule out any alternatives, and then can't decide which option to take. They don't make decisions, the environment makes decisions for them.
In the end, some people die and some live, and I was once again reminded of the value of fiction: sometimes reality is just so boring.
The story is about three young people getting menaced by a salt water crocodile in the Northern coastal region of Australia. The first twenty minutes is spent setting up the events. Pretty straight forward for a first act, except all the dialogue is the characters pointing out plot points to each other and the audience. It's painfully unnatural.
When our protagonists finally find themselves in the company of a rather vicious croc, they spent most of the remainder of the film up a tree. Their strategies for survival are reasonable throughout the film, but there's really only two options: stay put and hope they're found, or try to get to safety by their own means. This is established in the first few minutes of the second act, and then nothing happens. They consider both options, rule out any alternatives, and then can't decide which option to take. They don't make decisions, the environment makes decisions for them.
In the end, some people die and some live, and I was once again reminded of the value of fiction: sometimes reality is just so boring.