By Robert Scucci
| Published
If you’re a fan of the Alien franchise, or sci-fi horror films like Sphere, 2020’s Underwater, currently streaming on Hulu, is a modern spiritual successor to both of these iconic intellectual properties. A box office disappointment upon its theatrical release, Underwater has found its audience on streaming and is finally getting the attention it deserves for its claustrophobic setting, creature effects, and charismatic chemistry from its principal cast. While I’d be lying to you if I said that Underwater had a totally original premise that you’ve never seen before, I can say with confidence that it’s a thrill ride that holds its own, with plenty of tense moments to pique your interest.
A Small Crew In The Not-So-Distant Future
Set in the year 2050 and centering on a crew working on a drilling and research vessel known as Kepler 822, Underwater (available on Hulu) wastes no time letting viewers know that something serious is about to go down. When mechanical engineer Norah Price (Kristen Stewart) survives a massive earthquake that compromises the structural integrity of the Kepler 822, which is located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, she knows that there’s not a lot of time to figure out a viable way to get back to the surface before the entire facility implodes on itself.
Norah locates her shipmates, Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), Paul (T.J. Miller), Liam (John Gallagher Jr), Emily (Jessica Henwick), and Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), and the crew comes up with an illogical yet necessary plan to walk across the ocean floor in pressurized suits to the Roebuck 641, a nearby facility that also sustained damage from the earthquake but is in much better shape than the Kepler station.
Encountering vicious humanoid creatures living deep underwater during their travels, Norah and her crew fight for their lives as they try to make sense of what’s happening, knowing that they’ll soon run out of oxygen and the necessary power required to make contact with their cohorts back at the above-water control center.
If there’s one reason you’d want to stream Underwater on Hulu, it’s to figure out the origin of these mysterious, Lovecraftian creatures who are slowly taking over the ocean floor.
Well Shot And Acted, But It’s Already Been Done
Upon seeing one of the early establishing shots of an empty yet mysterious and menacing service corridor, the first thought I had about Underwater was that it would play out like an oceanic carbon copy of the first Alien film, and I was right to make this assumption. While there are too many parallels between the two films to ignore, Underwater is worth streaming on Hulu because it holds its own thanks to the on-screen chemistry between each and every crew member. When Nora first rescues Paul from the initial cave in, for example, it’s made clear how the two get along when he thanks her by saying, “You sweet, flat-chested elven creature,” suggesting that they’re comfortable ripping on each other, even when their lives are at stake.
Streaming Underwater On Hulu
On its face, Underwater isn’t the most original sci-fi horror film you’ll ever see streaming on Hulu, but it’s worth a watch if you’re just getting into the genre, or simply want to watch something like Alien without actually watching Alien for the 100th time. In other words, Underwater doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does exactly what it sets out to do. Unfortunately, what it sets out to do has already been done.
As of this writing, you can stream Underwater with an active Hulu subscription.
