by Hazel Apr 17,2025
One of my earliest fears was of bodies of water that might or might not be hiding a people-eating shark beneath their calm surfaces. Shark movies fueled this paranoia by constantly reminding my younger self that nature's predators could strike at any moment.
While the concept of shark movies—vacationers, boaters, or divers being hunted by one or more sharks—seems straightforward, many films struggle to execute it effectively. However, when done right, these films offer an adrenaline-pumping experience that can make you wary of any body of water for a long time to come.
So, prepare your Shark Spray. Here are our picks for the 10 best shark movies of all time. For more creature thrills, be sure to check out our guide to the greatest monster movies.
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10. Shark Night (2011)
The landscape of shark movies leans heavily towards the negative, making films like Shark Night noteworthy for their basic competence. Set in the Louisiana gulf, vacationers are attacked by backwoods maniacs who take their Shark Week obsession to an extreme by equipping ferocious sharks with cameras. The premise is absurd—a Great White shark jumps out of the water and decapitates someone on a WaveRunner. Marketed originally as "Shark Night 3D," it captures the early 2010s horror vibe, aiming for popcorn entertainment, which it successfully achieves. Credit the late David R. Ellis for this "better with booze" bite of jawesomeness, though it's not the most polished film in the genre.
Jaws 2 may not surpass the original, but it holds its own in a field with few strong contenders. Roy Scheider returns to protect Amity Island from another Great White shark that targets water skiers and beachgoers. The film leans more towards action, a shift that led to the original director John D. Hancock being replaced due to his unsuitability for such sequences. It continues the familiar story with more action, exploding boats, and underwater carnage, executed well enough to justify its place in the franchise.
Despite having two sequels, Deep Blue Sea 3 markedly improves on the franchise's previous entry, echoing the original's appeal. On the artificial island of Little Happy, scientists working to protect Great White sharks face threats from mercenaries and bull sharks. This full-on B-movie delivers with martyrdom explosions, action-packed sequences featuring aerial Bull Shark attacks, comedic character deaths, and an unexpected victory for shark cinema. Kudos to the cast and crew for surpassing expectations, delivering an entertaining direct-to-video sequel that embraces its absurd shark movie roots.
Jason Statham faces off against a 75-foot-long Megalodon shark from the Mariana Trench. While The Meg could have been more thrilling with an R-rating and tighter storytelling, it still delivers as a blockbuster aquatic horror spectacle. The film showcases the dangers posed by the Megalodon's massive jaws as they threaten dive cages and underwater research facilities. Statham's expert diving skills are pitted against this ancient predator, while a cast including Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, and Cliff Curtis tries to prevent the Megalodon from feasting on beachgoers. The film blends elements of Kaiju Lite and soap opera drama, fulfilling its premise adequately.
2023's The Meg 2, however, did not meet the original's standards, described as "bigger and badder in all the wrong ways" in our review, and thus does not feature on our list of the best shark films.
Unlike many shark movies that use mechanical or CGI sharks, Open Water opts for real sharks to achieve authenticity. Directors Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, both avid scuba divers, used their expertise to capture natural shark behavior. This film stands out from its more entertainment-focused counterparts, focusing on an American couple left stranded miles from shore in shark-infested waters. While not action-packed, it's suspenseful and harrowing, offering a different kind of shark movie experience.
Before Crawl featured alligators in a flooded crawl space during a hurricane, Bait trapped supermarket patrons and workers with Great White sharks after a tsunami. Australia delivers one of the better recent shark movies, where survivors ingeniously use shopping carts and parking lots as diving gear and hunting grounds. The film blends effects to maintain tense and bloody aquatic thrills, with the added twist of a robbery interrupted by the tsunami, forcing criminals and clerks to unite against the swimming predators. Bait stands strong alongside Crawl in the subgenre of "Animals Attack in Trapped Locations During Freak Weather Incidents."
The urgency in 47 Meters Down adds to the panic of an already tense underwater escape scenario. Mandy Moore and Claire Holt portray sisters trapped on the ocean floor after a disastrous shark diving expedition, constantly at risk of attracting sharks. The film effectively uses the vastness of the ocean to create suspense, with sharks lunging out of the darkness. It's a nerve-wracking and intense experience that captures the essence of shark cinema.
A testament to its impact is the LL Cool J song inspired by it. "Deepest, bluest, my hat is like a shark's fin" captures the 90s flair of Deep Blue Sea, a film about genetically enhanced Mako sharks and the consequences of pharmaceutical greed. Despite some outdated CGI, the film excels with practical shark effects in flooded settings. Deep Blue Sea embraces the fun of creature-feature absurdity, showcasing the sharp teeth of karma.
Blake Lively faces off against a formidable shark in The Shallows. Director Jaume Collet-Serra masterfully builds tension using minimal locations—rock formations, water, and a buoy. Lively's performance against the convincingly terrifying CG shark elevates the film, making it a standout in the genre. The Shallows dives straight into a desperate scenario, delivering unrelenting intensity.
Steven Spielberg revolutionized the summer blockbuster with Jaws, the undisputed king of shark movies. Despite challenges with the animatronic shark, the film's success, earning $476.5 million at the box office, speaks volumes. Jaws masterfully builds suspense, revealing its predator at the perfect moment. This tale of summer chaos in New England, driven by a mayor's focus on tourist revenue over safety, remains terrifyingly relevant. Decades later, Jaws is still the best shark movie ever made.
AnswerSee ResultsLooking for more horror movies with teeth? Take a look at our guide to the best vampire movies of all time next or dive into our favorite dinosaur movies.For those looking for even more shark movies to watch, there are quite a few currently in the works or announced. Here are some of the biggest upcoming shark movies we know about:
Shark Week 2025 will take place from July 6 to July 13, 2025, with the Discovery Channel set to air a whole host of shark-related content.
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