From the director of “Violent Night” (Tommy Wirkola), “Thrash” is Netflix’s first summery film of the year. In 2026, you can’t simply have a natural disaster movie or a predator film; it’s gotta-be a hurricane action movie with killer sharks to get attention. Twenty years ago, a film mostly reliant on visual effects with hurricanes and sharks would have been something that sold tickets. In today’s media landscape, a production like “Thrash” can be produced on a modest budget and dumped on a streaming service. Wirkola isn’t taking things too seriously, and that’s why “Thrash” is, at best, entertaining junk food for audiences to roast and pick apart.
“If they ever considered creating a category 6, this would be it,” a weather forecaster announces. Hurricane Henry heads on a direct path towards South Carolina and the town of Annieville. While a local meatpacking industry has ceased operations in preparation for the storm, a big-rig truck driver hauling discarded animal waste is headed out of town when the levee breaks and the town floods. His rig is swept away, spilling the bloody contents into flood waters and attracting sharks. The low-lying town is flooded, hundreds are dead, wounded, or stranded, and now sharks are swimming around Main Street. Various townspeople face dire situations as they struggle to reach higher ground above the shark-infested floodwater.
“Betcha never saw this on Shark Week.”
Victoria and Melbourne, Australia, stand in for South Carolina. Some of the younger actors, drawn from local Australian talent, do decent country and hillbilly accents. Phoebe Dynevor (“Fair Play” and “Bridgerton”) and Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou (“Blood Diamond”) are the two recognizable faces in the cast. Dynevor’s character is pregnant, single, and the “save me” victim throughout the entire film. Hounsou is given even less to do, as he’s in a boat trying to rescue his niece for most of the story. Whitney Peak (Molly’s Game) is the lead and only character with much character development. Mourning the loss of her parents, alone and terrified of the rising waters. She faces her fears to aid Dynevor’s character.
What genre you personally label “Thrash” will likely determine how much entertainment is derived from it. On the comedy side, it’s ridiculous and absurd on nearly every level. This hurricane has all the characteristics of a tsunami and the idea this many sharks swimming into the flood waters is quite a gag. The closer the movie gets to the finale, the more outrageous, or comical, it becomes. “Betcha never saw this on Shark Week.” Always absurd, yet never boring, “Thrash” is total trash entertainment.
Final Thought
“Thrash” has sharks on Main Street and leans into the preposterous at every turn.