Siobhán (Hermione Corfield) is a brilliant young marine biology student, more at home amidst laboratory equipment than people. As a component of her studies, she boards a trawler overseen by a couple (Dougray Scott and Connie Nielsen) whose amiable demeanour shields both financial worries and profound grief. Siobhán is not exactly welcomed aboard: her cool, scientific perspective is at odds with that of the salty, superstitious crew of “fishmen,” and her red hair is considered bad luck. Not long after setting sail, the old ship’s hull is glommed onto by a bizarre, bioluminescent creature of unknown genus.
Sea Fever is a nice character driven piece that allows some quality work from the actors while we get just enough quality visual effects to make it all pan out like it does and makes a good entry into the sea faring genre.
Writer/Director Neasa Hardiman is a veteran directorial hand and with Sea Fever we get a solid little genre effort that takes us out into the realms of the deep in a way that feels like a budget version of The Abyss and that’s a good thing.
Hermione Corfield is a solid lead and carries the action well as the likes of Dougray Scott and Connie Nielsen give it all some legit gravitas as things subsequently get worse and worse on the boat.
Sea Fever doesn’t necessarily light the world on fire, but it’s a well done genre effort that makes us look forward to what Neasa Hardiman might do next.
- Release Date: 9/5/2019
