Ouija Shark: “Sink” your “teeth” into this riveting movie experience
Like most movies from the reputed “Say What” production house, this movie too deals with the complexities of human emotions and relationships, and at the same time the impact of neoliberalism on the middle class. On the surface of it, it may seem like a simplistic take on an ethereal being’s gruesome (I had to keep my eyes shut on more than one occasion) attack on innocent human beings, however the messages conveyed in the subtlest manner (so subtle that even a rewatch wouldn’t help) are much much more beyond that.
The director does not attempt to spoon-feed you at any point and the subject matter is open for interpretation of the viewer. The aforementioned “subtle” messages are scattered across the length of the movie much like Easter eggs (that are past their expiration date). For example, the lead female protagonist comes across as on the edge always but this has more to do with her having to grow up with an unempathetic dad who has no clue about urgency of dealing with a precarious situation (she could be in a house on fire pleading for intervention for all that we know, and his response would be to advise her on the hazards of playing with matchsticks, hours later the house has burned down and he is still researching on the best fire extinguisher to use).
But this can be justified as the father tends to display schizophrenic tendencies, on more than one occasion we find him talking to himself - perhaps the entire movie is a manifestation of his schizophrenia.
The director often tries to mislead on purpose to keep the viewer guessing the next move. For instance the initial response of fear from the protagonist when she comes across the board in the water (which we later learn is a ouija board) makes us wonder if she had a traumatic experience with Uppercase alphabets in her kindergarten days. The connection with the occult is gently weaved into the narrative and we are taken aback by surprise once again.
We are also exposed to the rude contrast between poverty and first world capitalism through simplistic portrayals. For instance, while the bunch of girls have to pretend to drink and eat like kids playing house (not once do we see water or a drink in their cups or a piece of bread on their plates, pure cinematic gems from the director’s kitty), we see their neighbour using up gallons of water to wash his car. He does with such callousness that it almost hurts. This crude display catches the attention of one of the girls, who under the pretence of helping out the neighbour is soaking in her only chance to enjoy the water which otherwise she has been deprived of (sorry, the chlorinated water in the swimming pool just wouldnt do)
As expected, the girls do use the Ouija board to invoke the spirit of the shark, they don’t stop inspite of the much obvious response that the spirit is upto no good since its default response to all their questions is the word “Hungry”. You almost feel for the shark, it must have taken years of evolution for it to learn to spell it out, yet no one seemed to be taking it seriously. Perhaps this frustration leads it to go on a killing spree of everyone and anyone that comes in its direct sight (lateral vision seemed to be an issue with the floating apparition)
In another brilliant display of cinematic magic, the director throws light on the failing law and order mechanism of the state. We see the sheer lassitude of the police when a distraught mother pleads for help to find her missing daughter (no prizes for guessing what happened to her), the office hands over a blank business card asking her to get in touch with him later. To be fair, he is fighting his own demons, he has to constantly deal with a sergeant, who has no respect for his authority but the inspector has no choice but to bear with him as he is family. Meanwhile the sergeant spends most part of his day at the local waterhole, where he drowns his ineptitude and sorrows in beer, secretly pining for the no nonsense bartender, he needs the stability she can offer in his unsettling life. Once again the director amazes us with his assessment of the grey areas of human nature.
The director also shows some signs of being influenced by German filmmakers, quite literally in fact, the first 20 mins of the movie we see the protagonist walking 20km to the beach and back.
The camerawork also needs a special mention here, there is indeed a humanitarian side to this too. In the first part where the shark goes on its initial killing spree, we see the victims jogging to their eventual death as the camera follows suit. This was done taking into consideration that the cameraman had just undergone a knee replacement surgery and did not want to induce any undue stress or post operative complications. Somewhere towards the latter end of the movie, he sticks to long shots allowing the victims to run into their predictable demise.
Without giving away too many spoilers, at the same time to keep you intrigued, let us throw some goodies your way, watch out for a superb Marvel crossover element, an ode to Terminator, a y(h)uuuuge eye opener at the end of the movie that’s going to blow your mind away.
Check out the OST, they add the pizzazz to the already exciting proceedings especially Hey Life. The artwork and animation from Pixabay is at par if not more with Kevin Reynold’s Waterworld and Cameron’s Avatar.
Some questions remain unanswered at the end of the movie - clearly another set of goodies thrown our way to ruminate for later - what ever happened to the discarded grocery bag in the woods, what could happen to the swing states, who was the neighbour and will he ever get the car cleaned. Hopefully Ouija Shark 2 will answer these questions.
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