I missed this when it came out late last year but films crop up all over the place these days and the other day it did for me. Essentially what you've got here is something heavily reminiscent of The Thing, with perhaps a touch of Alien, but set on a small fishing boat off the Irish coast. It's not going to change the world but it's a taught and engaging, if derivative little ride.
This is the very definition of "B-Movie", which isn't necessarily a bad thing at all. Scott and Nielsen are the "old-timers" on hand to run the ship and make selfish financial decisions that put everyone in danger, but the whole thing is anchored by the remarkably grounded performance of Hermione Coerfield as the new scientist on the boat. She is very low-key and her determination and solidly logical approach really gives the movie a believable central core.
Essentially a bunch of regular character types are on the fishing trawler when they get stuck to something in the sea. A creature? They free themselves but the bigger problem is some bright blue goo that is seeping through the hull and into the boat's water supply. And into the crew...
Soon bad craziness is occurring and they're devising tests - a la The Thing - to see who's infected. It is tense and claustrophobic and, thankfully, nobody does anything uncharacteristically stupid to drive the plot. It's a small scale but well-handled feature, breaking no new ground and slightly disappointing when it comes to the finale, but it does get an extra star for being Irish, which gives Sea Fever a slight but distinctively different feel to the many other outings in this genre.
I would suggest that if you're looking for sea-bound thrills in the Alien vein you might also want to go further underwater and try exactly that - Underwater with Kirsten Stewart, which has a considerably bigger budget and really is worthwhile. I found that one to be a lot of fun despite low expectations going in. It was easily good enough to meet them and keep me well amused on a wet afternoon, with both enjoyable character interplay and inventive creature work: the Big Bad was ultimately 1000 times better than in Sea Fever.
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