There’s a very slight chance for any shark-horror story to surpass “Jaws” and turn out to be better. Hayley Easton Street, in her film “Something in the Water” (2024), attempts to revamp the shark-horror genre but fails drastically due to the lack of substantial story material. The characters’ struggles seem to be missing when they face the actual threat in the sea. The story follows Meg, who reunites with her friends to celebrate one of their weddings, but things take a swift turn when they decide to spend some time together in the ocean.
Spoilers Ahead Â
Something in the Water (2024) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis:
The film starts with Meg and Kayla walking together while other women mock them as they are seen holding hands together. Meg and Kayla are lesbian partners, and society makes fun of their life choices, which irritates Meg. Kayla protests at them, and a fight breaks out where Meg is especially targeted. Meg is thrown down the stairs, and she takes numerous kicks while the others hold Kayla in the distance. Kayla screams at them to stop hitting her, but they seem to be enjoying hitting Meg as she loses consciousness.
What makes Meg meet with Kayla again?
Meg lands at the airport, and she is surprised to see Kayla has come to pick her up. Cam is supposed to receive her to avoid any kind of awkward encounters between the two lovers from the past. But as it turns out, Meg is sharing the ride with Kayla, who is the last person she wants to see right now. Meg is still recovering from the trauma when she was hit by random women for doing nothing wrong.
Perhaps, deep inside, she blames Kayla because if she could just leave them like Meg and did not protest or show any gestures at them to offend them, the incident could have been avoided completely. But no one can change what has happened. So here they are, meeting after a long time since their breakup, heading to meet with their other three friends.
It is Lizzie’s wedding. Her fiance, Dominic, has booked this huge resort close to a distinct island out of the reach of civilization. Meg meets with Ruth, a professional runner; Cam, who loves adventure more than anything in the world; and Lizzie, who is about to get married here on this island. Cam has planned to get the girls out of the wedding crowd into the deep seas, where they can spend fun time together without any disturbance.
What does Cam plan to make Meg and Kayla together?
Meg and others think that they are going to travel in a very sophisticated yacht into the deep seas. But Cam surprises them all by showing them a below-average boat with only a motor attached. Cam insists that this will be more adventurous than traveling in a yacht. She also admits that she could only get hold of this one. Hence, they have to manage it one way or another. All five friends set foot inside the boat as Cam starts the motor and bon voyage to them.
When they reach the shore, Kayla jumps out of the boat at first, and Meg follows. However, soon, Cam turns the boat and lets them separate from the group to sort out their problems. The rest of the three, Cam, Ruth, and Lizzie, leave them behind to reach a different shore of the island, which is not very far. After spending some time together for a while, Kayla says that she is sorry for the events that occurred in the past. Meg tells her not to think about any of them.
What happens to Ruth?
They decide to swim to reach the other girls, and they walk, holding hands together. They also say to Lizzie that they have decided to get married, and everyone seems to be very happy with their decision. However, sometime later, Ruth suddenly feels something underwater. Soon, the water is filled with her blood, and a portion of her leg is completely missing. The rest of them pick her out of the water while Meg puts Lizzie’s scarf around the place to stop the bleeding.
Later, they get into the boat, and Lizzie starts the motor to return to the resort as quickly as possible. The bleeding is not stopping at all. Ruth is losing her senses as she regrets her upcoming competition, which she is required to participate in. But she understands that she can’t because of her condition. The girls now understand that Ruth’s leg was bitten by a shark because no other creature can cause a wound like this.
In the meantime, Lizzie is not an expert who can be trusted with the wheel of the boat as she comes closer to the stones in the ocean. Cam screams at her to slow down the boat. However, due to the sound of the motor and her anxiousness, she fails to hear the warning. By the time she tries to break, the boat has already hit a big stone, which results in a big hole in the boat. Meg tries to stop the water from entering the boat. But the hole is too large to stop the water from entering.
Finally, they decide to leave the boat and hold Ruth as long as possible. There’s only one lifeboat inside the boat, and they give it to Ruth. Since Lizzie does not know much about swimming, she holds onto a plastic bag while Meg makes sure that she does not fall behind. After a while, they realize that Ruth has lost too much blood and she is dead. They let go of Ruth’s body as they witness a shark catch it with its fearsome approach.
Something in the Water (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
How does Cam die?
After floating for a while, the girls realize that someone needs to find help, or else no one is going to come and save them. They are floating in the deep seas, and they have not seen any boats passing. So, Kayla decides to swim across the ocean to find help. A long time has passed since Kayla left, and Lizzie tells Meg that Kayla originally planned to get married. On the island before, Meg and Kayla lied to Lizzie about their plan for the wedding because they just wanted to make the others happy.
But, now, listening to Lizzie, Meg decides to meet with Kayla because she needs to express her feelings toward her before anything bad happens. Cam goes to stop her, and Lizzie sees that a shark is following her. Lizzie screams to warn Cam. But she fails to listen, and the shark cuts a small portion of Cam’s hand. Later, Cam realizes that the shark has already marked her because now it can taste her blood. Cam goes away from Meg with a knife in her hand. She, however, fails to do any harm to the shark as it kills her in an instant.
How does Meg survive the Sharks?
Later, when Meg is too tired to stay afloat in the water, Lizzie holds onto her and gives her the friendship bands she thought of giving to the group. The following morning, Meg sees that the lifeboat that Lizzie had put on after Ruth is now with her, and Lizzie is nowhere around. Soon, Meg realizes that Lizzie has sacrificed her life to make sure that Meg stays afloat. It is, however, not sure whether Lizzie is eaten by the shark or she just died in the ocean.
Later, Meg finds herself followed by a shark as she is bleeding from a cut. She finds a pile of stones in the middle of the ocean and takes refuge in that so that the shark can not attack her. However, later, when the tide comes, Meg sees that her shelter is going under the water as more than one shark now arrives to feast upon her. Right at this moment, Kayla arrives with help, and Meg just makes it to the boat unharmed by the sharks.
Meg finds the friendship bands along with Kayla, and they both cry their hearts out, remembering their friends. A slight luck appears for Meg and Lizzie when they see a yacht crossing them. Lizzie and Meg screamed numerous times at the yacht, but there was no response. Lizzie used curse words as she hated the fact that the rich people did not care much about their surroundings. Anyway, Kayla survives the tide and everything else to make sure that her friends get the help they require. But, sadly, there is only Meg left, as together they leave the cursed waters once and for all.
