Deep (2017) - Parental Guide | Is This Movie Suitable

Deep – Humans have left the Earth for pastures new since destroying the planet and all that is left is life below the ocean waves. Little octopus, Deep, is desperate to see more than the confines of his little community but it is forbidden by his grandfather. Accidentally endangering everyone with his actions, Deep and his friends, Evo and Alice, go in search of help in the form of a white whale. But with an epic journey ahead of them and numerous dangers along the way, will the three friends make it in time to save their loved ones?

Deep (2017) – Director: Julio Soto Gurpide

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56311047

Rating: PG

Running Length: 92 mins

Starring: Justin Felbinger, Stephen Hughes, Lindsey Alena

Genre: Action / Adventure, Animated

REVIEW: ‘DEEP’

Looking at the consequences of the impact that humans have on Earth has become a stalwart of childrens’ stories of late. Teaching kids that we should tread lightly to minimise our footprint on the planet is by no means a bad thing and so much emphasis on the increasing amount of manmade material in the oceans brings about a focus on such stories being based beneath the waves. It is therefore confusing that considering Deep is set exclusively underwater said background story of pollution is in the air and on land, and thus unseen – present only as an excuse for the humans to be gone. ‘Deep’ misses a trick in that the plot barely has any relevance to the potentially interesting (and on topic) apocalypse up above.

As a character, Deep isn’t the typical ‘let’s share’ protagonist. He’s arrogant, dismissive and ignores everyone around him, believing he knows best. While this adds an interesting layer to his character, unfortunately the realisation he eventually has about the error of his ways comes too late to undo the damage done (and even then, there is so little humility to him that this change of heart seems unlikely to be permanent). The other characters are fine but, much like the predictable plot, are quite bland.

‘Deep’ is a movie that never steps out of its comfort zone, relying instead on tropes that have been done better before. The animation is considerably cheaper looking than the current big hitter standard so ‘Deep’ really needed to shine in plotting and characters, which sadly sink slowly into the depths. Younger children may enjoy the bright spectacle of it, but this isn’t a movie that will lodge firmly in the family roster.

CONTENT: IS ‘DEEP’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

As the movie opens, Deep has a voice-over which explains what has happened to the Earth. As part of this scene, a magazine is shown in close-up for 10 seconds that has an image of a terrifying Kraken (large octopus with sharp teeth). Deep laughs at this saying that the Kraken is his grandfather and that he isn’t nearly as scary as the image suggests.

Evo, the angler fish is terrified of everything. When at a party, he hides behind a rock and when he is told ‘it’s a party, it’s perfectly safe’ he says ‘the cannibal party of ’35 started as a party’.

Deep gives his friends a gift of a doll’s head, it has a creepy fixed expression with one blackened eye and both Evo and Alice are unimpressed. They are also given the doll’s body which they are equally unhappy about. Deep believes that they are overreacting and this is done more for comedy than scares.

Deep repeatedly goes against his grandfather’s wishes by leaving his little community, the outside world being deemed to be extremely dangerous. At first this doesn’t cause any major problems but when he mistakes a torpedo for a boat he sets it off which causes a volcano to erupt from the explosion. Waves of lava splash around Deep and co as well as inside the community. Creatures scream in terror and flee as lava and huge rocks fall around them. Some baby fish are hidden inside a clam shell which is then covered in lava, they are seen to be blackened but still alive.

Deep, Evo and Alice come across the wreckage of the Titanic and explore inside the ship. Several skeletons are seen to sit at tables. A vampire squid lives in the wreck and when talking to the three friends she moves the skeletons to make them seem alive. She appears friendly at first but becomes aggressive when they try to leave, saying ‘I will destroy you!’. At one point, she traps them in a room, hissing aggressively and baring her sharp fangs in close-up. The friends are terrified but they manage to escape.

An eel sneaks up on Deep, coiling around him and telling him to ‘stay still so I can get you down in one bite!’. Upon discovering that she could become one of the group, she attempts to talk herself into doing the right thing. This takes on the form of her appearing to have a mental illness as she looks one way on-screen for one part of her debate and then snaps her head to the other side to argue her point.

A character is accidentally eaten and getting them out of the other character’s stomach is played like child-birth. The ‘eaten’ character shoots out of the other’s mouth and the ‘eater’ tells him ‘I’m definitely not nursing you!’

On their journey, the friends come across hundreds of crabs who make threats against them. The leader, a large crab named Rico is like a Latino gangster, he tells them ‘Rico kill you now!’

The friends arrive in an area that is contaminated by radioactive waste. While they suffer no ill effects, they are chased by a huge swarm of manic, zombie-like fish that make strange creepy laughing noises. This scene lasts for a couple of minutes and becomes quite intense.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘DEEP’ OK FOR KIDS?

‘Deep’ may not be one for the adults in the audience but as it film that’s aimed at a much younger audience, it doesn’t need to appeal to anyone else. We feel this movie is appropriate for all ages, however we recommend parental supervision for young children due to some of the more scary scenes.

Violence: 1/5 (some threats of violence)
Emotional Distress: 1/5 (an established character is believed to have been killed for several minutes, this happens during an exciting scene so does not get too emotional but one character is told that they can ‘mourn him later’)
Fear Factor: 2/5
Sexual Content: 1/5 (characters discuss repopulating the ocean, Deep believes that he is the last of his kind but a female octopus turns around and says ‘hey, good looking!’. Deep then grabs one of her tentacles, rushes off and says ‘see you guys later!’)
Bad Language: 0/5
Dialogue: 1/5
Other Notes: Deals with themes of environmentalism, isolationism, arrogance, trust, courage, believing in others and acceptance.