They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but if it’s done wrong it’s not really a complement. No one probably knows this better than director Ridley Scott whose Alien movie is one of the most cloned ideas in history. Thankfully among the bad rip-offs there are a few gems and Sea Fever is one of them.
If you were born yesterday, or just not up-to-date on horror movies (although some would argue Alien is actually sci-fi), Scott’s movie follows a band of humans (plus one) aboard the Nostromo, a space “tug boat,” who intercept a distress call and decide to investigate. It doesn’t go well and their ship is overtaken by a huge parasite known as a Xenomorph.
In Sea Fever, it’s the same set up only it’s on Earth, in the ocean, aboard a trawler, or a fishing vessel. The monster here is a water-based, and before you say this is more a copy of James Cameron’s The Abyss or 2020’s Underwater, those two films were also inspired by Alien.
Directed by Neasa Hardiman, Sea Fever follows Dr. Siobhan, an oceanographer studying sea life. She buys a place on a fishing boat and joins six other crew members. The captain, having financial troubles chooses to take the vessel into a restricted area rich with fish.
The area is occupied by a species of invasive bioluminescent ocean life that multiplies by infecting other living organisms with its offspring. One member aboard the ship decides to take a swim and unknowingly becomes a host.
This is an intense movie with lots of gore, especially when it comes to eyeballs. One “bursting” scene in particular is pretty gross. The film also leans into a The Thing scenerio, which creates a sense of distrust among the group.
The cast is superb, especially Olwen Fouéré as Ciara who becomes the film’s human threat. Hermione Corfield as Siobhan is our Ripley/MacReady persona, and she is just as intense and resourceful as those characters.
This is a suspenseful film and we genuinely care about the crew, mostly thanks to good acting and writing, Sea Fever may be a dupe, but it’s an elevated one with great special effects and a few twists. Sometimes playing by-the-numbers is less about capitalizing on a shop-worn premise, and more about bringing your own vision to the story. By doing that Hardiman treads familiar territory, but thanks to her direction adds some fresh thrills to her work.
You can watch Sea Fever for free on Plex. Or head over to WatchThis and see where you can rent, buy or stream this quality creature feature.