Anyone who has seen documentaries like Blackfish, has heard news of deaths occurring at marine theme parks (both animal and human), or is following the ongoing whaling debate can certainly empathize with animals like Orcas. “Sure, they are massive, impressive creatures with a brain to match, but what’s so wrong with containing them for others to learn more about?” It turns out that a lot can go wrong, both ethically — and mortally. In Killer Whale, two women escape their humdrum lives for the salt and sea air of Thailand, only to find out the reason for the animal’s sinister moniker.
*Special Note: There are no human deaths attributed to wild orcas. The very few fatalities that have occurred were caused by captive orcas and was likely spurred on by factors like poor mental health (y’know, because of the captivity).
Follows best friends Maddie and Trish as they find themselves trapped in a remote lagoon with the dangerous killer whale named Ceto.
Killer Whale, IMDB
After a failed robbery attempt where Chad (Isaac Crawley) is killed protecting Maddie (Virginia Gardner), best friend Trish (Mel Jarnson) takes her to the coasts of Thailand to see her favorite captive orca, Ceto. Unfortunately for them, years of captivity and the death of Ceto’s calf have made her angry, and on an outing to a local lagoon, she exacts her revenge on Maddie and Trish.
Let’s start with the good. Killer Whale may hide the gruesome injuries sustained underwater, but it lets the viewers know how bad they are via the sheer amount of blood. Every time a person enters the water, there is a sense of imminent danger because we know a killer is in the water with them. And when there is a small chance at survival, say, when Trish and Maddie find some solid ground to latch onto, we are reminded that the tide will soon come in, putting them right back in the danger zone.
Like Jaws, Killer Whale‘s Ceto is the main event. Her taunting the girls by spraying them with someone’s blood and pulling their raft away from land was actually kind of funny and something you’d expect from an animal that smart. As time goes on, it gets more sinister and aggressive as Ceto watches their every move, waiting to bite at any minor slip-up. It really goes to show just how out of depth we are with ocean creatures; we are literally in over our heads, drowning in the audacity that humankind has in trying to “tame” these animals for our entertainment.
On the other hand, something that might throw viewers off is the extensive use of green screen. Making movies is expensive, and Killer Whale makes that fact abundantly clear as it uses green screen tech in place of wide shot scenes throughout the film. It’s understandable, however makes the movie a little less believable. The pacing too may feel a little long, being that two characters are stuck in a stationary position for a good chunk of the movie. You need to rely on dialogue and thematic musical queues to keep the movie going.
But small details in films like this do take the edge off though. Killer Whale‘s circular lagoon looks like a pool used to keep marine life in captivity, mirroring how Ceto is still trapped — mentally, at least — in grief and anger, and how the girls are now locked in a cage with her. And while Maddie and Trish are trapped on the jagged rock, their realistic cuts bleed and their tan lines darken, hinting at the numerous days spent on the rocks, out and unprotected in the elements. Limbs litter the lagoon, not once letting them forget the danger they’re in. And finally, Trish has a secret that turns the story all the more eye-opening.
Killer Whale is not perfect, and it’s hard to live up to certain sharksploitation blockbusters. What it does do is give us a tale of survival that not only looks at the human aspect of it, but makes us empathize with the “monster.” Of course we want our protagonist duo to survive, but it’s hard to look past the trauma that that animals like Ceto have and continue to go through. That’s the true horror. And the survival aspect really goes for both parties: human and animal.
Killer Whale is available in the UK for digital download today! Check out Plaion Pictures for (Insta and web) more.
