Thrash

• Director: Tommy Wirkola
• Writer: Tommy Wirkola
• Starring: Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Dart, Alyla Browne, Dante Ubaldi, Stacy Clausen, Elijah Ungvary, Amy Mathews

Grade: C-

From its opening introductory text regarding the increasing frequency of intense hurricanes, Thrash – now streaming on Netflix – presents its thesis as a grand metaphor for climate change and its potentially unintended consequences. Of course, it’s nothing new for horror/thriller films to throw in a political or social message through varying degrees of subtlety, but writer-director Tommy Wirkola clues us in right off the bat regarding where his film’s priorities lie. Fortunately the film doesn’t always feel like a glorified PSA throughout its entire runtime, a la Don’t Look Up. Rather, as the film goes on, the climate change metaphor takes a back seat to shark mayhem, to varying degrees of success.