Well, here are 86 minutes I’ll never get back.

Annieville, an East Coast town in the United States, nearly becomes the next Atlantis when a Category 5 hurricane floods the landscape, sealing the fate of a handful of idiots who ignored the government’s advice to run for their lives.

The few include Dakota (Whitney Peak), an agoraphobe who decides to brave the storm and the flood in her home — knowing fully well that American houses, made primarily of wood, can easily be swept away in storms. Then there’s Lisa (Phoebe Dynevor), a pregnant woman trapped inside her car; and Ron, Dee, and Will (Stacy Clausen, Alyla Browne, Dante Ubaldi), who are at the mercy of their state-assigned foster parents (Matt Nable, Amy Mathews).

There are also a few saps who get what they deserve, a few good Samaritans who die because the film needs to kill minor characters to raise the stakes, and Dr Dale Edwards (Djimon Hounsou), a marine researcher and Dakota’s uncle.

Thrash — sharks in a Category 5 hurricane flood — is exactly as ingenious as it sounds and nowhere near as fun as it should be

Dale knows the water is the least of their worries, because the sweeping tide has brought in something far more sinister: sharks! A number of bull sharks have invaded the town, but a larger threat lurks among them — a massive great white named Nellie, whom Dale has been tracking.

Yes, the film is exactly as ingenious as it sounds, and nowhere near as fun as it should be. The story is weak, the screenplay is weaker and the direction — well, you get the message. Credits for both writing and direction go to Tommy Wirkola (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Violent Night).

Adam McKay (the writer-director of The Big Short, Vice and Don’t Look Up), who produces here, was the primary reason this reviewer chose to see the movie. One might be inclined to say “never again”, but McKay has produced several good — and good-enough — films in the past. One can also see the allure of the premise — people scrambling for safety as their houses flood while being picked off by sharks — but the execution, irrespective of decent visual effects, is poor.

The film’s greatest flaw is its lack of character engagement. The people on screen hop, scurry, climb and swim, but they carry no emotional weight or depth. Frankly, films such as Crawl — where alligators prey on townsfolk during a Category 5 hurricane — have handled this concept much better.

One thing is certain: because of this movie, I’ll forever read the word ‘Thrash’ without the ‘h’.

Streaming on Netflix, Thrash is rated 16+ for the usual fare: mauled cow carcasses and chomped off people

The writer is Icon’s primary film reviewer

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 19th, 2026