Dark Tide

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Claudio C @Claudio666 Oct 14, 2025 Dark Tide (2012) Wonderful Cinematography, Obnoxious Characters (11,988 – 14 Oct 2025 – by Claudio Carvalho) In Cape Town, South Africa, the diver Kate Mathieson (Halle Berry) has studied the behavior of sharks for ten years and is making a documentary with her husband Jeff Mathieson (Olivier Martinez) and her friends Themba (Sizwe Msutu) and Tommy (Mark Elderkin). When a great white shark kills Themba, Kate quits diving and Jeff leaves her. One year later, she runs a whale tour company with Themba’s wife Zukie (Thoko Ntshinga) but their business is near bankruptcy. Out of the blue, Jeff reappears in Cape town and invites Kate to have a meeting with the wealthy Londoner William Brady (Ralph Brown) and his son Luke (Luke Tyler), since they want to see the great white shark and will pay one hundred thousand Euros for the journey. “Dark Tide” (2012) is a movie by John Stockwell with wonderful cinematography, but obnoxious characters. The lead Kate is an unbalanced character, that looks bipolar, with sudden emotional bursts. The also obnoxious English man performed by Ralph Brown is not a nice man. But her behavior towards the man that will save her business is unexplainable and leads to a tragedy in the end. Jeff is another unpleasant character, but Tommy, Luke and Zukie are nice characters. The good points are the cinematography, with few CGI, and the scenes in the sea, a great tour throughout Cape Town. Anyway, the film is underrated by critics. My vote is six, Title (Brazil): “Maré Negra” (“Black Tide”) My Blog: https://maniacosporfilme.wordpress.com/ See more Stephen C @bob25009 Jul 27, 2025 Success in 1 hour and 54 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated PG-13 for Disturbing Images, Bloody Shark Attacks, Language and Sexual References!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Koi P @hopepink Mar 12, 2025 Suspensful. One of the best shark movies I have watched. See more Matthew D @OceanSage Oct 23, 2024 A bikini-clad Halle Berry swims into deadly waters with sharks! Blue Crush and Into the Blue director John Stockwell proves he was the master of aquatic films in this era. His thoroughly underrated watery adventure drama Dark Tide (2012) is a wonderful film. He captures the natural beauty of the Cape of South Africa with breathtaking underwater photography. The ocean, seals, penguins, whales, dolphins, and sharks are lovely to watch. It’s a beautiful movie with great characters, strong acting, cute animals, and exquisite scenery. It’s unthinkable that movies used to look this amazing all the time. Dark Tide is awesome and dearly underrated to me. Director John Stockwell remains an underrated director after three fabulous water movies with Blue Crush, Into the Blue, and Dark Tide. I don’t believe that Dark Tide deserved to be panned by critics and audiences. It aged well and features my favorite Halle Berry acting performance. She’s very moving and compelling as the scuba diving heroine, who has to contend with great white sharks attacking idiotic tourists, all while dealing with her trauma from a friend killed by a shark. Writers Ronnie Christensen and Amy Sorlie create neat characters from Halle’s hesitant heroine, who doesn’t want to swim in open waters with sharks again to the foolish tourists desperate to swim with great white sharks. There’s also her estranged husband, who greedily pushes her to dive with the sharks during the dangerous mating season for the sharks. It’s a grand warning against capitalism, greed, and humanity’s arrogance into thinking they can control sharks and nature. I found it thrilling and heartfelt. I hope more people appreciate Dark Tide one day. Halle Berry is fabulous as the lovely, smart, and concerned diving expert Kate Mathieson. Berry speaks both English and some South African dialect too with a real tenderness. She comes across as intelligent, worried, calm, innovative, and brave as she must dive with the sharks. She feels in the moment and earnest at all times. I genuinely would rank Halle Berry in Dark Tide as her strongest dramatic acting performance that I’ve seen. She is captivating and realistic for all 113 minutes of Dark Tide. Olivier Martinez is very good as Kate’s estranged and underhanded husband Jeff Mathieson. He gets aggressive, but can be very engaging and romantic opposite Halle Berry. He’s got real romantic chemistry with Halle Berry as there’s definitely tension there. It’s neat they got married right after this movie. His speaking voice reminds me of Jean-Claude Van Damme. Mark Elderkin is fun as the goofy boat driver Tommy Phillips. Sizwe Msutu is very likable and kind in the opener as Themba. Thoko Ntshinga is a delight to watch as Kate’s best friend Zukie. Ralph Brown is excellent as the total jerk William Brady, who is willing to pay a large sum to swim in open waters with sharks outside of the protective cage. He’s confrontational and cruel to anyone near him. He’s a walking embodiment of arrogance and ego. Luke Tyler is pleasant as the nervous son Luke Brady, constantly bullied by his abrasive and toxic father. Casting directors Colin Jones and Gail Stevens cast a solid ensemble to star alongside the effervescent Halle Berry. Editor Andrew MacRitchie cuts to every adorable sea creature nearby from seals to seaweed. I could clearly follow each swimmer in the underwater sequences even during the shark attacks. Cinematographer Jean-François Hensgens captures some of the most beautiful underwater scenes ever shot for Dark Tide. All the wide shots of False Bay, Seal Island, and Shark Alley are stunning. His shots of vast ocean expanses and deep waters look mesmerizing. The careful close-ups let us know who is who for a coherent viewing even underwater. There’s a lot of neat talk of framing photos for the best wildlife photography to see the sharks. The vivid bright lighting from Ashraf Benjamin and Wayne Shields looks incredible too. The real sharks look amazing and the CGI sharks thrashing and biting still look believable. Composer Mark Sayfritz’s film score is eerie and always feels foreboding. The movie feels prescient about a rich father sadly dragging his son along for a deadly sea voyage. Sound designers Andrea King, Jack Stew, Steve Little, Adam Mendez, Simon Rice, Harry Barnes, Martin Cantwell, and Robert Farr capture every person paddling, diving, shark wadding, fin emerging in the water, to huge waves crashing. All the ambient noises are fantastic, adding to the atmosphere. Costume designer Moira Anne Meyer gives Halle Berry sexy bikinis and cool scuba diving gear. All the wetsuits are neat. Makeup artists Norma Hill-Patton, Lynda Armstrong, and Raine Edwards give Halle the cutest pixie haircut. Overall, Dark Tide is a beautiful looking film with Halle Berry’s finest acting ever. She’s enthralling and raw. I hope audiences get to see the oceanic views here in Dark Tide. See more Cristian s @cristiansj Nov 1, 2023 Mala y aburrida. Historia plana y lineal.. De hecho toda la trama se centra en la superación del trauma del personaje de Halle Berry y hasta eso hicieron mal, de repente deja atrás su miedo si pero a través de lo que parece ser un brote psicótico. Tiene algún plano de paisaje lindo pero ni así logra ser llevadera. See more Jerod S @jeroduptown May 24, 2023 Dark Tide is a slow moving shark film with no teeth. When Halle loses a teammate to a shark attack, you know she'll end up back in the water. But the story that takes her there is a bore. See more Read all reviews

Dark Tide

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