The bluntly titled “Something in the Water” hearkens back to those good old days of perusing the horror section of my local mom-and-pop video store, carefully examining the VHS boxes of movies I’d never heard of, in search of some fun late-night entertainment. For better or worse, “Something in the Water” plays a lot like some of those weekend rentals that teenage me would pick out and watch.

First-time feature film director Hayley Easton Street takes the reins for what is essentially another shark thriller. Most of these movies follow a similar path – something goes wrong while out at sea and our unfortunate protagonists find themselves fighting for their lives against man-eating sharks. “Something in the Water” is no different. To her credit, Street does try to cook up some side drama. But the one-dimensional characters and their lightweight relationships don’t give us much to cling to.

It all takes place in the Caribbean where five friends gather at a swanky beachside resort for a weekend wedding. Meg (Hiftu Quasem) arrives and joins the hyperactive Cam (Nicole Rieko Setsuko), the thoughtful Ruth (Ellouise Shakespeare-Hart), and her former partner Kayla (Natalie Mitson) to party with their buddy and bride Lizzie (Lauren Lyle). The movie tries to give them each their own personality but there’s nothing that makes them stand out. The only real sense of drama involves Meg and Kayla who haven’t spoken since a traumatizing event split them apart one year earlier.

One afternoon Cam rents a rust-bucket boat and whisks the ladies away to a remote island well off the mainland. But what’s meant to be a fun and leisurely day on the beach quickly goes south after a shark bites a chunk out of Ruth’s leg while she’s playing in the water. Unable to stop the bleeding, the girls load their friend into the boat. But in their panicked rush back to the mainland, their boat strikes a reef gashing a hole in the bottom. And just like that the five friends are stranded in the middle of the ocean. And as you can probably guess, it doesn’t take long for that pesky shark to reappear.

It all makes for a harrowing scenario and Street squeezes out some pretty good tension, at least early on. But as it moves forward the film has trouble sustaining any real sense of terror or suspense. And it quickly begins to run out of gas despite clocking in at under 90 minutes. There are a couple of good character moments that earn the emotions they’re going for. But outside of that the movie sputters on its way to a silly ending that it could have done without.

“Something in the Water” is a competently directed first feature for Street who does her best with a thin story and fairly modest budget. The setting is beautifully shot and the performances are solid enough. But the story (written by Cat Clarke) doesn’t have the dramatic heft, suspense, or self-awareness to make it into any of the several movies it could have been. It’s moderately entertaining but falls victim to its generic characters, rather routine storyline, and a lack of energy to push it across the finish line.

VERDICT – 2 STARS