47 Meters Down: Uncaged parents guide

47 Meters Down: Uncaged Parent Guide

Flat characters and creepy voyeurism make this an unappealing film. There are far better options in the shark movie genre.

Overall C-

Four teen girls on holiday in the tropics are having the time of their lives swimming, hiking, and scuba diving. On a dive, they find a ruined old city, full of creepy tombs, ancient buildings, and most importantly, hungry sharks.

Release date August 16, 2019

Violence D+
Sexual Content B
Profanity A-
Substance Use A

Why is 47 Meters Down: Uncaged rated PG-13? The MPAA rated 47 Meters Down: Uncaged PG-13 for sequences of intense peril, bloody images, and brief strong language.

Run Time: 89 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Mia (Sophie Nélisse) and her stepsister Sasha (Corrine Foxx) are struggling to get along after moving to Mexico with their father, Grant (John Corbett), for his archaeological work. Grant decides to set them up together on a glass-bottomed-boat shark-seeing tour, in the hopes that the girls will bond. Instead, Sasha talks Mia into coming out with two of her friends to go swimming near the secret cave entrance to a sunken Mayan ruin…

I have a soft spot for ocean-based monster movies. One of the first reviews I wrote for this site, in fact, was for The Meg, which I enjoyed enough to see twice. I knew from the trailer this was probably not going to be as much fun, but I still went in with some hope. That was my first mistake. Never go into a screening feeling optimistic - it’s the best way to curse the next ninety minutes of your life.

There are a lot of problems with this movie. First, the writing is so poor that Nicole is basically the only one of the four girls who has a distinct character. She’s so phenomenally stupid that she becomes the cause of almost every problem in the first two acts of the movie. It’s not a good thing when your audience is rooting for at least one of your characters to get eaten before they’ve even seen a shark.

My other big issue was the creepy voyeuristic treatment of the female leads. The movie has a solid five-minute scene which is comprised solely of slow-motion shots of the main characters in bikinis, jumping in the water and tanning on a float. I started wondering if the theater’s projectionist had mistakenly mixed in a reel from the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. This is especially problematic given that all four of the girls are in high school – they are minors; not adult women. I’m not faulting the movie for having its characters wear bikinis, which is reasonable swimwear in the heat of Mexico (although some parents might object). What I am criticizing is the movie gawping at the girls like some sweaty, heavily-breathing creep who’s parked outside freshman English with a telephoto lens. I don’t appreciate being made complicit in the general sliminess by watching the film.

Aside from the Swimsuit Edition problem, there’s actually very little for parents to be worried about. There are the expected “blood in the water” moments but the movie is less graphically gory than in other films of the “shark attack” genre, and there is almost no profanity, drug use, or explicit content. But while you could do worse for content, you could do a whole lot better for quality and entertainment value.

Directed by Johannes Roberts. Starring Nia Long, John Corbett, and Sophie Nélisse.. Running time: 89 minutes. Theatrical release August 16, 2019. Updated

Watch the trailer for 47 Meters Down: Uncaged

47 Meters Down: Uncaged
Rating & Content Info

Why is 47 Meters Down: Uncaged rated PG-13? 47 Meters Down: Uncaged is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sequences of intense peril, bloody images, and brief strong language.

Violence: An individual is tripped into a swimming pool. Four people are eaten by sharks, one of whom is visibly torn apart, all of which are shown with some blood in the water. A character is scratched on the arm. Someone drowns. Two people are shown receiving (but surviving) serious shark bites, which are shown with blood. Sharks are variously struck with welding equipment, stabbed with their own teeth, and shot with flares. A floating severed head appears briefly in a dimly lit scene.
Sexual Content: Teenage girls are shown in bikinis.
Profanity: There are a couple of uses of mild profanity and terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: No drugs or alcohol are depicted or mentioned.

Page last updated

47 Meters Down: Uncaged Parents' Guide

Mia and Sasha go cave diving with their friends, despite knowing what the dangers could be and knowing that their parents would disapprove. Why do you think they did it anyway? Have you ever done something similar? Why did you decide to go ahead with it? What can you do to be more resistant to peer pressure when your better judgment is pushing you in another direction?

Loved this movie? Try these books…

Peter Benchley’s Jaws is the novel that started it all. Steve Alten’s The Meg is the beginning of a six book series with a seventh due in 2021.

The classic underwater adventure novel is Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Published in 1870, this story of underwater exploration and revenge is riveting for older kids, teens and adults.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of 47 Meters Down: Uncaged movie is November 12, 2019. Here are some details…

Related home video titles:

The original shark film is Jaws. This classic movie can still scare people out of the water. The Meg is another shark attack film; this time featuring a gigantic 75 foot long prehistoric shark known as the Megalodon.

For a change of pace, Crawl features a reptile. In this monster movie, giant alligators terrorize a family when their house is flooded in a Class 5 hurricane and unwelcome guests come in with the water.

If you want a fun monster movie with lots of destruction, check out Godzilla: King of the Monsters. This is easily one of the best monster movies ever made and is a blast for fans of the genre.

If you’re looking for ocean-based adventure that’s safe for kids, make some popcorn and settle down in front of Finding Nemo. This sweet tale of a father clownfish looking for his son is a breathtaking feat of animation on the part of Pixar and has a sweet story.