Sea Fever has found new life in the COVID-19 pandemic. This 2019 Irish science-fiction thriller ran the international film festival circuit and has finally arrived at Sydney Film Festival, generating buzz for its plot about a mysterious parasitic infection that has found its way onto an isolated fishing trawler in the middle of the ocean. The disease acts fast, and its symptoms range from unsettling to outright gruesome. Director Neasa Hardiman relishes the opportunity to play within the realms of body horror, and demonstrates a great eye for creature design in the bioluminescent aesthetic of a sea monster that will make you shiver. But it is her command of tension and atmosphere that leaves an impression, and which drives the plot of Sea Fever forward.
The parasite is transmitted through a green gel-like substance, which has been injected into the ship through tendril-like appendages reaching up out of the deep. Hardiman evokes Alien in this setup, striking into her audience the fear of a foreign entity invading an enclosed environment and, ultimately, our bodies. But unlike Alien, Sea Fever hits a limit on its tension, denying us the catharsis of an exciting climax which it has surely earned by the end.
It is impressive that no one in the ensemble of seven sinks completely into the background, with each of them being endowed with specific traits early on that remain memorable and important to the plot throughout. Gerrard is the captain of the ship, and it is his stubborn independence that keeps digging the crew deeper into danger. At a certain point his foolishness is a little too much to be believed, as he withholds a key piece of information from the rest of the crew for no good discernible reason. But at worst, this is merely a contrivance of the horror genre.
Leading the cast and providing a foil to Gerrard’s hard-headedness is Hermione Corfield as Siobhan, a young biologist who is situated as the outsider to the crew. She provides more than just the voice of unheeded reason often seen in movies of this ilk; Siobhan takes initiative in the most dire situations, often running against the consensus to take the actions necessary to save them all. These moments are more than just cheap hero moments, as they compete with her own desire to ingratiate herself with the group on a social level. These character dynamics are the strongest aspect of Sea Fever, with each individual gradually cracking under pressure and revealing their most basic instincts.
Sea Fever doesn’t quite flesh out its monster horror to its full potential, though as a contained character drama and thriller it is full of suspense. With her feature film directorial debut, Hardiman proves to be effective in commanding a sense of atmosphere through the slower, more restrained sequences, creeping the narrative forward without losing sight of the stakes or character arcs at play. Sea Fever may not challenge the science-fiction, thriller, or horror genres in any major ways, but Hardiman’s bold style will certainly please those looking for simple, exhilarating entertainment.
