The Devil’s Mouth (2026) Lacks Bite and Brains
Title: The Devil’s Mouth
First Non-Festival Release: July 29, 2026 (Digital/Streaming Platforms)
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Writer: Aja Gabel, Myung Joh Wesner
Runtime: 106 Minutes
Starring: Kathryn Newton, Lana Condo, Nico Haraga
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
A group of friends vacationing in Thailand are having the time of their lives ahead of their cave exploration excursion. The trip is meant to honor Sara’s (Kathryn Newton) father, who passed, but it increasingly becomes clear that it’s more of an excuse for Max (Lana Condor) to try and “fix” her outlook on life. After already leaving Sara behind once to be stung by a horde of jellyfish, Max’s propensity for impulsive decision making leads to the group getting trapped in the complex underwater cave system they set out to explore. Their troubles grow from bad to worse when they discover an aggressive bull shark has inadvertently washed up into the system after a bad storm. The group must work together to escape to the surface while dodging the shark’s advances.
Grating sharksploitation with middling production values, The Devil’s Mouth mystifies with its baffling story and character decisions.
A cringeworthy introduction to the hapless adventurers wastes no time in characterizing the young adults as vapid, irresponsible thrill seekers. Before they even set foot in the cave system, the group already exhibits questionable judgment when they accidentally leave Sara behind due to a miscommunication that leads to her fighting off a swarm of jellyfish. Sara’s quick acceptance to their carelessness cements the toxic group dynamic ahead of their descent. Unfortunately, beyond setting the stage for Sara’s own arc, the rest of the characters aren’t afforded the same development.
Loud, obnoxious, and whole-heartedly stupid, the questionable decisions the group make are amplified once they find themselves trapped. Once there, the young adults become easy targets for the insatiable bull shark trapped in the cave system with them. Somehow making the worst decisions time and again, the group’s momentum is regularly halted by someone’s recklessness or fear. It’s understandable to a degree, but when the name of the game is to get to dry land outside, the thought processes appear as bright as the deepest recesses of the cave.
Pacing the escape with this in mind, The Devil’s Mouth gets repetitive with its set pieces to the point where the action feels indistinguishable. Silly shark faux pas aside, namely the roaring, stalking, and jumping in the most unrealistic ways to further the plot, the weight behind the crew’s journey is uneven. The cave system is characterized in the beginning of the journey as the more difficult of the two paths, typically reserved for experienced spelunkers. Led only by the audacity of their freshly unappointed leader refusing to become shark bait does the crew push on. Whether moving in unfamiliar territory or attempting to backtrack, the circuitous nature of the caves becomes an irritating feature of the underground shark film.
The shark itself is dangerous without merit. Easily sneaking up on the adventurers by defying laws of physics and space, the shark becomes more of a sense of humor than horror as The Devil’s Mouth reaches its disappointing climax. Many of the film’s scarier moments blend together as the shark thrashes victims against the walls or drags them further underneath the water. It loses its luster by the time the group winnows to two, leading to an insufferable amount of faux character development that lands as gracefully as Max’s attempts to climb the cave walls.
It isn’t all bad. There are a few moments of tension amidst the cooler moments of cave exploration. Some genuinely cool shots of the underground lair create a fantastic yet foreboding atmosphere, especially once the shark is introduced. Kathryn Newton and Lana Condor have great chemistry, even if their characters are underwritten and inconsistent. Newton especially proves she can lead a film without falling to her signature snark while Condor convincingly plays a more aggravating version of the selfish best friend trope. It isn’t enough to make up for its toiling approach to sharksploitation, but it avoids the worst pitfalls of the sub-genre.
Not nearly as dire as its online reputation claims, The Devil’s Mouth is a middling, thoroughly boring killer shark flick all the same. Bland set pieces, dull characters, and a strange understanding of geography sink The Devil’s Mouth before any shark scare can save it. Not even capable actors can elevate writer/director Jeff Wadlow’s uninspired creature feature. For a sub-genre plagued with mediocre to downright terrible efforts, The Devil’s Mouth should inspire neither confidence nor ire.
Overall Score? 5/10
