Let’s see if there is a secret to the ooze.
Sea Fever is a cozy little film about a socially awkward (until she isn’t) PhD student Siobhan who tags along on a fishing vessel for field research. However, things go south when a strange creature latches onto the boat and begins infecting everyone with a strange parasite.
This is a tough review to write because I like this type of movie but found myself fighting with this one. There are two fatal flaws present in this movie: the characters and bad logic.
The acting is good. It isn’t often to see poorly written characters act so well but here we are. Our lead is socially anxious for no real reason—and this aspect of her personality evaporates when the plot needs it to. Further, the captain of the boat is an unethical idiot. The crew ranges from super geniuses to filler characters. All of the complexities added to these people amount to nothing and we end up wasting our time on things that don’t matter.
The perhaps bigger issue (though linked to the first) is that everyone in this movie is kind of idiotic or living in a different reality. Siobhan doesn’t know anyone on the crew and meets them for the first time before going out alone with them for a lengthy trip. PhD students don’t often walk into things blind, hell, most people don’t. For a professional researcher, she doesn’t do any homework. We get a look into her lab, which seems to be completely state of the art, so for her program to not have its own vessel doesn’t make any sense.
These logical gaps permeate through the entire film. At every turn you’ll be scratching your head as to why the story is going the way it is. The film would be creepier if everything in the universe didn’t seem to be aligning to make everyone make a bad decision.
Despite these flaws, we do get a fun infection film. Who has the parasite and who doesn’t causes fear and anxiety on the vessel. The overall story is quite enjoyable, but it is marred by bad characters and terrible logic.
Fans of infection horror films will find a lot to like here. The setting also does a strong job of giving us an isolated and claustrophobic feeling. The directing is strong as well. There’s a lot to like here. However, there’s also a lot that will drive you nuts.
I’ve been fighting with this review for a while I feel like. Yes, the film is enjoyable BUT there is a lot wrong with it, too. I have a hard time giving it a full recommendation for this reason, but fans of this type of horror don’t have a ton of new options.
In the end, we have a frustrating movie that had a ton of promise.
Wait for streaming if you’re interested.
Jay Hates Movies 