The Shallows

The Shallows is a 2016 American survival horror film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, written by Anthony Jaswinski and starring Blake Lively. In the film, a medical student, surfing on vacation, gets stranded from shore and must use her wits and determination to survive a great white shark attack. Principal photography began in October 2015 in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. The film was released in the United States on June 24, 2016, by Columbia Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews and grossed over $119 million against a production budget in the range of $17–25 million, becoming a box office success. Plot Shortly after the death of her mother due to cancer, medical student Nancy Adams travels to a secluded beach in Mexico, the same beach her mother visited while she was pregnant with her. Carlos, a friendly local resident, gives Nancy a ride and drops her off at the beach, while a friend of hers who came along with her is staying back at a hotel after partying too much. Nancy joins two other locals and the three surf for several hours. Taking a break from surfing, Nancy video-chats with her younger sister Chloe. When she talks to her father in an emotional and strained conversation, it is revealed that Nancy is a senior student but her mother's death recently caused her to consider dropping out of medical school before graduation. While surfing one last time for the day, Nancy notices the carcass of a young humpback whale nearby. As she rides the last wave back to the beach, a large great white shark knocks her off her surfboard and bites her leg. Nancy climbs onto the whale carcass, but the shark rams it from underneath, forcing her to swim to an isolated rock. She uses her surfboard leash to slow the bleeding from her leg. Later she uses her jewelry to put rudimentary stitches in place to hold her torn flesh together. Nancy is left alone when the unaware locals leave the beach, and she spends the night on the rock with a wounded gull, which was also injured by the shark, and names him Steven Seagull. The next morning, a drunk local man on the beach steals Nancy's belongings. While wading out into the shallow water to steal Nancy's surfboard, however, he is killed by the shark. Several hours later, the two locals Nancy had surfed with the day before return. They get into the water before Nancy can warn them away, and are also killed by the shark.