The Best Shark Movie Since Jaws Is Quickly Devouring Netflix's Streaming Charts

Published Aug 18, 2026, 12:18 PM EDT Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." Sign in to your ScreenRant account Netflix's charts are seeing the best shark movie since Jaws swim its way up, Jaws is easily one of the most iconic movies of all time. Directed by none other than Steven Spielberg, one of the best directors in Hollywood history, the shark thriller made generations of viewers fear getting into the water. Jaws racked up an impressive $490.7 million at the global box office. After the success of the 1975 movie, several shark films have been released over the years, with the Jaws franchise itself having released three sequels to the Spielberg classic to diminishing box office results. Now, another shark thriller is trending on Netflix, and it is an exciting release. Blake Lively’s The Shallows Is Quickly Roaring Up Streaming Charts It’s About To Conquer A Recent Netflix Hit At the time of writing, The Shallows stands as the 9th most-watched movie on Netflix in the United States. The shark thriller is one of Netflix's August arrivals, being a licensed film, not a Netflix Original movie. The Shallows was originally released in theaters on June 24, 2016. The shark movie proved itself a box office hit long before it became a streaming sensation on Netflix. Based on a reported budget of $13 million, The Shallows had to finish its theatrical run in the range of $26 million to $32.5 million to break even. The film comfortably aced that test with $118.7 worldwide. The Shallows recently arrived on Netflix on Saturday, August 15. The shark thriller instantly became a streaming sensation nationwide, rising to #8 on Netflix in the United States on the following day. While it has since dropped a position, coming in at 9th, The Shallows is still performing strongly on the streaming service, and it could soon bounce back to top a recent Netflix hit. That would be the Kevin Hart comedy 72 Hours. Once the most-watched movie on Netflix worldwide following its debut on the streamer on July 24, 72 Hours is currently Netflix's #8 in the United States. Boosted by its recent release on the streaming service, the best shark movie since Spielberg's Jaws could soon come to surpass Hart's 72 Hours, as it currently stands right above The Shallows. The movie stars Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) as Nancy Adams, a medical student who faces a deadly situation on a remote beach in Mexico. While out surfing, Nancy comes face to face with a deadly great white shark. What follows is one of the most intense rides in shark thriller history, which helps explain The Shallows' newfound success on Netflix. Why The Shallows Is The Best Shark Movie Since Jaws Few Others Like It Keep Its Action Grounded The Shallows stands at a strong 78% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 218 reviews. While that might not come close to Jaws' stellar 97% critics' score, it is vastly superior to the critical reception for all three sequels. On RT, Jaws 2 is at a disappointing 56%, while Jaws III is at a shocking 10%, and Jaws the Revenge is at an abysmal 2%. Lively's The Shallows grounds its action, not going for over-the-top scenarios seen in shark movies like the campy Sharknado and Jason Statham's action-packed The Meg movies. In that way, it is a raw experience, just like Jaws, and by making Nancy's trauma over her mother's death from cancer a key part of the narrative, even when shark action takes over, The Shallows remains an emotionally compelling film that makes viewers connect with its main character. Release Date June 24, 2016 Runtime 86 minutes Director Jaume Collet-Serra Writers Anthony Jaswinski Producers Lynn Harris