Crawl (2019)

So Wrong….But So Fun!

If you have ever lived along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico or along the Atlantic coast in the United States of America, you’ve probably lived through a hurricane or two. 2019’s Crawl, starring Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper, gets so many things wrong with hurricanes, alligators, and blood loss, but gets so many other things right that you can ignore its shortcomings.

The film’s plot is pretty simple: Haley (Scodelario) heads to her father’s home in southern Florida to check on him and hopefully convince him to evacuate before a Category Five hurricane slams into the state. She finds him injured and trapped in the crawlspace beneath his home. She attempts to pull him to safety but is cutoff by alligators that have apparently slipped into the crawlspace with them.

As the film continues, Haley and her father, Dave (Pepper), attempt to outwit the gators as the water rises under the house and the crawlspace begins to flood. Looters show up and are dealt with as expected by the gators as are a few other folks intending to help Haley and Dave. Eventually the water forces Haley to take drastic measures in order to save herself and her father.

The film is carried by the performances of Scodelario and Pepper. With lesser actors in the roles, the film would have flopped terribly. The alligators’ behavior is terribly off (I am from Louisiana and know what I am talking about) and things that happen (and don’t happen) as a result of the hurricane (again, Louisiana boy here) are wildly inaccurate, but the acting and direction lift the film above those shortcomings and makes for a really fun flick.

There are a number of genuinely suspenseful moments and a few “gotcha” scares that work to perfection. I found myself cheering on Haley and Dave and couldn’t wait for the next big obstacle to land in front of them throughout the film. The special effects are fairly solid and there’s plenty of action to keep horror and suspense fans interested. It’s a really fun ride and I highly recommend it.

Thanks for reading my post. If you’ve seen Crawl, let me know what you thought about it in the comments section. If you want to know more about the miscues in the film, let me know and I might make another post specifically about the screw ups.