THE BLACK DEMON

US/Mexico/Dominican Republic, 2023, 100 minutes, Colour.

Josh Lucas, Fernanda Urrejola, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Venus Ariel, Carlos Solorzano, Omar Chaparro.

Directed by Adrian Grunburg.

Yes, important to say at first, this is another shark movie. And this time, the shark is a Meg, a prehistoric megalodon (popularised recently by the series with Jason Statham, The Meg).

The shark-trend is now almost 50 years old, and can be traced back to (blamed on?) To 1 Spielberg, 1975, the American summer, the release of Jaws (and the rest is history!). So, so many writers and directors have felt that they need to contribute their own shark film – and director here, Adrian Grunberg, was born in March 75, just as Jaws was released to the world.

However, some differences. The setting is the Mexican Baja Coast. The central character, however, is American and, as will be explained later, he is definitely an Ugly American. But the production was filmed in the Dominican Republic.

At the opening, there is information about Mexican traditions, the story of an underwater beast, a Black Demon, an aggressive and destructive shark. And, immediately, on an oil rig off the coast, the workers are attacked by the Demon. In fact, during the film, there are many references to beliefs, religious for some, superstitious for others, and a reference as well as statues and imagery of Aztec deities.

Into the rather drab town, the citizens rather listless – or aggressive – comes an American family, father, mother, teenage daughter, little son, almost picture book with the niceness as well as the tantrums of the children! The father is Paul, played by Josh Lucas, who very soon emerges as an Ugly American. He is colonial in his attitudes towards the Mexicans. He is arrogant in US supremacy and know-how. He is completely rationalist, granting against religious superstitions and their effect. And he works for a huge US fossil fuel Corporation which has cut many corners on the maintenance of the rig out at sea, just beyond national jurisdictions. And later we, and Paul’s wife, a very sympathetic character, discovers that he has been cutting corners, pleasing his affluent masters. He has arrived in the town to go to inspect the rig.

We do not need to be an Oscar-winning screenwriter to know what is going to happen. And it does – though, with some variations. Paul goes out to the rig, finds two survivors, the rig in disrepair (which is his fault for not reporting failures in the past), the threat of the shark. When some of the locals behave suggestively towards the daughter, mother hurries the family onto a boat to be with her husband. So, there is the family with two of the workers, not quite ready to combat the Black Demon.

Paul is shown actually at his aggressive worst, especially in his rants and despising superstitions but, a touch of spoiler here, he is ultimately convinced that there is more than he can deal with rationally and the group joining in prayer before the final confrontation. And, he does admit his guilt and is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for his family.

There are a lot of hostile reviews. Many of them don’t seem to have noticed that there are some deeper themes, although the nature versus capitalistic humans is very evident, environmental and exploitation themes by fossil fuel corporations. But they seem not to have registered the possibility of some kind of repentance, atonement, an appeal to better human nature.

Yes, this one, small-budget and not so well-known, takes its place along with the 50 year gallery of cinema sharks.

1. A shark film? Mexican setting? Mexican stories and traditions, Aztec images?
2. Environmental message, fossil fuel corporations, American domination, unscrupulous? Nature against exploitation?
3. The Mexican setting, the Baja coast, filming in the Dominican Republic? The town, streets, homes, hotel, dismal and depression? The oil rig, fast, collapsing? The open sea, the boats? The musical score?
4. The introduction, the mythology about the Black Demon? Tradition? Mexicans? The later introduction of the Aztec traditions, the statues, the boy taking one, images for protection? The Megalodon, prehistoric, the attack, the worker and water, his death? The daughter later falling into the water, the severed limbs? Sense of menace?
5. Paul and the family, very American, his wife and her Latin American background? The bickering of the youngsters in the back? Coming to the town, its looking depressed, the hotel, the prospects of the holiday weekend? The reaction of the locals, despising, not speaking English, the seeming friendships, no phone calls, the small boat, taking Paul out? The aggressive meaning, the mother, taking the children, going out to the rig? Paul being upset?
6. The situation, Paul and the American company, the collapsing rig, his past reports, falsifying documents? The two men on the rig, the explanations? Paul and his reaction? The threat of the Black Demon? Strategies? Limitations, the collapsing structure?
7. The two men, friends, working together, one going down into the water, the attack? The survivor? Clashes with Paul, working with Paul? Plans, the blueprints?
8. The family, the discovery about Paul’s deception, the upset wife, the children trying to help, using ingenuity? The issue of superstitions, Paul and the scepticism, intellectual American rant, over-violent reaction? The eventual challenge, his admitting what he did wrong, the group in prayer?
9. The preparation for the attack, the visuals of the shark? Paul and his being prepared to sacrifice himself?
10. The explosion, into the mouth of the shark? And the surviving family?
11. A message film, the environment, nature, human exploitation, fossil fuels? Underlying themes of responsibility, acceptance, atonement, self-sacrifice?