In shark movies, it seems the dumber characters are, the better they taste. No shark
ever ate gristly old Sheriff Brody, right? If that is indeed the case, the college
kids in this movie must be absolutely delicious. Admittedly, finding a bull
shark in a fresh water cave system is rather unexpected, but once they do, they
make every bad decision possible in Jeff Wadlow’s The Devil’s Mouth,
which premieres today on Prime Video.
Sara is
understandably annoyed with her “friends,” because they accidentally left her
behind, swimming in jellyfish infested waters. Hey, they came back for her.
Hence her bad mood and numerous welts during their cave diving excursion.
However, Sara had her heart set on seeing “the devil’s mouth,” the cave opening
ringed by teeth-like stalactites and stalagmites, so she soldiers on.
Their
guide, Wat, wants to take the easy route, because of recent typhoon activity,
but, instead, Max, the group’s bossy queen bee, insists on taking the black
diamond trail. As always, everyone defers to her. However, when the storm
raised the water levels, a bull shark swam into the caves, where he now remains
stuck, angry and hungry.
This is
one of those sharkploitation movies where most viewers will root for the shark.
Sara represents the logical final girl candidate, who must learn to trust
herself and reject Max’s bad judgment to survive. That could be a credible dramatic
arc, but the young shallow cast are mostly good for one thing: chumming the
waters.
Frankly,
what most stands out during Devil’s Mouth are the stunning location
shots. If it weren’t for the shark attacks, Wadlow’s film would be a highly
effective PSA for Thai tourism. Wadlow, who previously helmed several Blumhouse
horror releases, including the hot unruly mess of a guilty pleasure, Truth or Dare, so it isn’t surprising he helms some satisfyingly gory feeding
frenzies. However, character development is thinner than dictionary pages.
Santa Claus must prefer his St. Nick alter ego to an exclusionary extent, because he
obviously overlooks children in countries that do not share the Christian tradition—or
does he? A little Thai girl named Lek will learn the answer to that question,
but it will take her nearly two and a half hours of screentime, as she journeys
through eight provinces of Thailand in director-cinematographer Paul Spurrier’s
Dream!, which screens today at the 2025 Rhode Island Film Festival.
After
the tragic death of her first love, Lek’s mother found herself an unmarried
mother, so she accepted Nin’s marriage proposal. In retrospect, that was a
mistake, because the old abuse drunkard insists on drinking away any money she
makes. When he raises his fist towards Lek, her mother dies protecting her. Wisely,
escapes under the cover of night, carrying the only Christmas present she ever
received: a one-legged hand-me-down doll, given to her by her school teacher.
For a
vividly colorful movie-musical that takes clear audio and visual inspiration
from Rogers-and-Hammerstein classics, Dream! veers into some
surprisingly dark territory. As orphans go, Lek is especially piteous and
vulnerable—and she isn’t even truly an orphan. Maybe she would be better off if
she were. Nevertheless, as she treks through the strikingly scenic Thai
countryside, her honesty teaches much needed lessons to many of the people she
encounters.
For a
while, the grotesquely entitled Namwaan “adopts” Lek as her first “friend,” but
the younger girl shrewdly recognizes the spoiled princess really wants another
servant. She later joins forces with a modern medicine man, until she discovers
the truth of his snake oil scam.
In
fact, Dream! is an incredible earnest musical fable deeply concerned
with virtue and morality. However, the constant one-darned-thing-after-another
rained down on poor little Lek starts to feel punishing, both for viewers and
for her. Indeed, most audiences will emotionally invest in her, quickly and deeply.
We and her just need more respite from the cruel travails of the world. The two-hour
twenty-minute-plus running time will also challenge younger viewers.
Nevertheless,
older patrons who share a nostalgia for the grand old movie-musical will
appreciate the films bigness, starting with its throwback widescreen
CinemaScope aspect-ratio. Mickey Wongsathapornpat’s score also sounds huge, in
a show-stopper kind of way, but it could have used more intimate ballads for
variety. However, the natural grandeur of the Thai landscape is often
stunningly cinematic.
Ironically,
genre film fans will recognize several cast-members, especially Vithaya
Pansingarm, from A Prayer Before Dawn and Mechanic: Resurrection (among
many others), who is both frighteningly nasty and sadly pathetic as abusive
Nin. Many might also remember Sahajak Boonthanakit co-starring with Pansingarm
in Mayhem! and Only God Forgives. This time around he plays a relatively
good guy, Namwaan’s father, who appreciates Lek’s heartfelt decency, but maybe
lacks the conviction to do something about it.
