Somewhere in my viewing of “Chum,” I was no longer watching a shark movie but rather a movie trying with everything it had to be four movies at once. Jonathan Zuck’s Maltese-set thriller starring Alice Eve, Nick Biadon, Ben Edlin and Tim Rozon has the blueprint for what should have been a deliriously entertaining dose of summer B-movie excess. A wedding, a secluded boat, a very hungry shark, and a shady local fisherman whose motives seem to shift like the tides? What else could you ask for but a heaping bowl of popcorn and to strap yourself in for the ride?
Regrettably, the film loses its bearings somewhere between its first bite and the last bite.
The main problem here isn’t the shark, but rather the script around it. Every chance it gets, new conflicts are introduced rather than allowing the central story to work. One moment “Chum” is a survival film, the next it’s a mystery, then it’s a budding romance picture, and then it’s back again to creature feature territory. Instead of these plot threads working in harmony, they compete and detract, creating an uneven pace where suspense struggles to establish any rhythm.
It is exasperating because, every so often, you catch a glimpse of the movie this could have been. Eve brings a convincing sense of desperation to her performance, and Rozon has enough on-screen swagger to make you wish the filmmakers had trusted the cast more than the contrivances of the script.
The cinematography is surprisingly strong for what appears to have been a primarily VOD production. The island of Malta provides a gorgeous backdrop, the visual design occasionally impresses, and although the CG shark looks like it just crawled out of the deep end of the pool at Epcot, it works well enough... provided the film had embraced its B-movie DNA instead of trying to pretend it was something more.
This damn thing never goes full-tilt gonzo. It never rips the governor off and lets the engine explode in a shower of blood, guts, and glorious cheese. Cowardice has rarely been this frustrating.
All the ingredients are sitting on the counter. The actors are game. The setup works. The practical effects show flashes of life. But nobody has the nerve to throw the whole mess into the blender and hit "liquefy." What should've been a delirious, blood-soaked midnight-movie fever dream becomes another safe, forgettable horror flick that mistakes restraint for sophistication. Sometimes you don't need subtlety—you need a chainsaw, a bucket of fake blood, and the good sense to scream "to hell with it."
Unfortunately, unlike its villainous finned predator, Chum never develops the bite needed to leave much of a mark.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 87 mins
Director: Jonathan Zuck
Writer: Dick Grunert; Ryan R. Johnson
Cast: Alice Eve; Nick Biadon; Ben Edlin; Tim Rozon
Genre: Action | Horror
Tagline: There's no hiding in the sea
Memorable Movie Quote: "I think it's tme you take a seat"
Distributor: Independent Film Company
Official Site:
Release Date: June 5, 2026
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: A newlywed couple joins friends on a Mediterranean yacht excursion, only to find themselves caught between a predatory shark and a psychopathic killer in their midst-transforming a sun-drenched escape into a fight for survival.
