Netflix’s latest film, Thrash, brings together an interesting concept, mashing up natural disasters with creature feature action…but forgets to be entertaining.
Thrash (2026)
Directed By: Tommy Wirkola
Written By: Tommy Wirkola
Starring: Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak, Djimon Hounsou
Release Date: April 10, 2026 on Netflix
“I don’t look for much logic when it comes to my disaster/creature movies.” These are the exact words I told my girlfriend just a scant few minutes (opening credits weren’t done yet) into Thrash, when the first nonsensical thing popped up. By and large, I feel this is a great way to approach any number of movies.
I’ve long been a proponent of enjoying stupid films. Accepting the fact that a film might be “bad” by most standards, but still have fun with it. Sometimes those are the kinda of movies I look forward to most! Knowing I can turn off the brain and just let myself enjoy the key-jangling nonsense.
The problem is, Thrash doesn’t take long to push the boundaries of even that loose policy. Which is frustrating because the premise has some fun potential. Being set in the middle of a massive hurricane event, we get some disaster movie aspects that help set the stage for the shark movie/creature feature aspect.
The easy comparison here is to Alexandre Aja’s Crawl, which did something similar but with alligators, but honestly, that’s incredibly unfair to Crawl. Crawl was fun and engaging in ways Thrash simply can’t come close to. In fact, if you’re considering watching Thrash simply because it sounds like Crawl, but with sharks, I encourage you to just go watch Crawl again instead.
Anyway, Thrash wants to be some tension fueled thriller, but the sheer level of ridiculousness going on with the story holds it back. It’s just one thing after another and not even the stuff specifically meant to keep the “plot” and action moving along. These characters just make strange decisions all around even when it has no impact on what comes next.
Hell, some characters do things that actively make their situations worse…just because. Like the man in a semi-truck who was knocked unconscious when the flood hit, only to wake up and discover that he was…actually okay. The truck was stuck and not moving, in fact he was probably one of the safest people at this particular point. And yet, even as the girl is yelling “Shark!” vehemently from her window, he frantically works to open the door allowing the shark easy—immediate—access to him.
It’s not necessarily the actions taken by the character that make this moment stand out, but how the film frames it. The editing, the music, the moment is presented in a way that makes you think this man needs to get out of the vehicle; that it’s a do-or-die scenario.
Thrash has an abundance of these little moments, even in just the first half hour, where the reasoning falls apart without any scrutiny needed. It’s not just that these moments make no sense, it’s that the film manages to bring attention to them so effectively, you can’t help but notice. You can’t simply “turn off your brain,” because it’s almost like the movie wants you to know how stupid it is. The result pulls you out of whatever momentum the film has going.
It doesn’t help that everything going on is conveyed through some horrendous dialog delivered poorly. All the more frustrating because at least a couple of these actors are generally pretty good! It’s just…baffling and all of it serves to give you something that doesn’t even feel like its on the level of “B-movie.”
Perhaps none of this would be so bad—or at least it would be tolerable—if Thrash wasn’t so boring. None of the kills are all that interesting. There aren’t any real “holy shit” moments that make you gasp or take special notice. Despite the constant threat of the sharks swimming around, there’s no real tension. Namely because the film doesn’t do much to make you care about anyone involved.
This is partly due to the fact the film is very short (under 90 minutes), which means there are a number of people killed off before you can form any sort of opinion on them. But also because the script doesn’t develop these people beyond some basic tropes to offer a semblance of a character.
The result are action sequences that feel tame. Which is wild considering it doesn’t seem to be afraid to get bloody or make use of its R-rating in other ways. Perhaps it’s because the VFX work is…rough. Not on the same level of bad as Syfy Channel flicks, but there are some laughable moments nonetheless. It feels more frustrating because the film doesn’t start off that bad, visually speaking, and instead it’s like watching the movie run out of budget in real time as the credits near.
I’m all about mindless fun and enjoying trashy movies. Some of my favorite films to watch over and over are pretty terrible. Thrash, however, is just bad. Not so bad it’s good. Not bad in a silly/fun way. Just bad and not worth your time.
