As a category 5 hurricane sweeps over Florida, Haley Keller (Scodelario) postpones her escape to evacuate her dad Dave (Pepper) from their home. However, with the help of the family dog she finds her father, severely hurt but alive and the two are unable to get out before floodwaters trap them. Haley also discovers that while they may have been largely cut off from the outside world, they are not alone — alligators have infiltrated the house, and they have a taste for human flesh. Can father and daughter escape alive against such overwhelming odds?
This film includes examples of the following tropes:
- An Aesop:
- While not directly correlated to the main conflict, if Dave had evacuated as ordered instead of staying to protect his house during the storm, neither he nor Haley would have been in the situation to begin with, saving them both a lot of trouble and injury (including Dave getting his arm ripped off.)
- Dwelling on the past profits no one; what's important is your relationship with your family here and now.
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: There's a safe space beneath the house where Haley and Dave can hash out their family drama in the midst of the disaster.
- Action Survivor: Haley and her father Dave.
- Ankle Drag: Haley gets grabbed and dragged away by an alligator at one point.
- An Arm and a Leg:
- While Haley is able to (narrowly) escape being subject to this trope after getting both her right arm and right leg severely bitten by the alligators, Dave gets his forearm ripped clean off at the elbow.
- The female looter gets half of her leg bitten off by an alligator, with a bone-snapping sound audible.
- Arc Words: "Apex predator all day."
- Asshole Victim: Averted with the looters who were stealing from a gas station but would have helped Haley and her dad if the alligators didn't brutally attack them all.
- Big Brother Instinct: When Marv becomes aware of the attacking alligators he runs towards where Stan is, yelling for him to get out of the water.
- Big "NO!": Dave, as one of the alligators seizes Haley by the leg and drags her out of sight.
- Bittersweet Ending: Haley, Dave, and Sugar the dog survive and are rescued, but they're also wounded (with Dave losing an arm) and many people including the looters, the deputy, and several rescuers (including their family friend) either died in the hurricane or were eaten by the alligators.
- Bloody Handprint: Haley, while looking for her father, finds a pair of handprints made in blood on a pipe near the ceiling.
- Captain Oblivious: While the viewer sees it, Marv (the first looter to hear Haley's cries for help) doesn't hear his girlfriend getting slaughtered by an alligator.
- Chekhov's Skill: The movie opens with Haley exiting a swimming tournament at college. Haley's diving and swimming skills prove to be useful as she goes to evade the alligators.
- CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable: After Dave nearly drowns in the flooded basement, Haley pulls him out and revives him this way. Of course it works, because they just reconciled their relationship and the plot wouldn't let him die that way.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: All five humans killed get it pretty bad, but none more so than Deputy Pete, who gets ripped apart and decapitated by four alligators simultaneously.
- Darker and Edgier: To the Killer Gator/Croc film genre as a whole, taking its premise (one that could have been turned into a campier film by anyone else) far more seriously.
- Deadpan Snarker: Both Dave and Haley deliver a number of snarky quips throughout the film.Haley: Stay here.
Dave: I was thinking about going for a run... - Death by Materialism: Three looters see a flood caused by a Category 5 hurricane as a golden opportunity to rob a store for its ATM plus food and items. They get attacked and eaten by alligators.
- Determinator: Haley and Dave, who won't stop until they're safe. The latter even tells a story about this trait of the former, given not being able to cross a pool in one breath made her swim late at night until she could!Dave: So we may be stubborn, but we do not give up.
- Devoured by the Horde: Deputy Pete gets torn apart by an entire swarm of alligators.
- Dramatic Irony:
- The swimming cap Haley wears at the start shows her college team name is, of course, the Gators.
- We see two of the looters getting eaten by alligators, while the third blissfully continues pilfering snacks, unaware that he'll be next.
- When Haley swims out of the drainpipe, she passes a submerged warning sign telling the public to stay away from the lower areas, since alligators tend to swim there.
- Eye Scream: Haley is fond of delivering those to attacking alligators.
- Hope Spot: Several. Haley and her father do everything they can to get help and even manage to find several people willing to help. Unfortunately, things don't work out either because of the alligators or the hurricane.
- Idiot Ball: Haley carefully sneaks out from their safe hiding spot to grab her phone and call for help. On finding it, she then tries to call 9-1-1 right there out in the open instead of sneaking back in to her safe hiding spot, even after confirming that a gator is literally just around the corner from her. Predictably, she gets attacked and the phone is destroyed as she frantically escapes.
- I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Dave blames himself for Beth and Haley's mom divorcing him, and says he doesn't resent her remarrying, because she deserves to be happy, even if he doesn't.
- I Will Only Slow You Down: Upon regaining consciousness, Dave's first words are to tell Haley to flee the house and leave him behind. She refuses point-blank.Dave: I don't need your help! (falls over)
Haley: Yeah, I can clearly see that. - Improvised Weapon: Haley and Dave have no actual weapons to defend themselves for much of the film, but manage to put screwdrivers, shovels, road flares and bricks, among other items, to effective use.
- It's All My Fault: Haley blames herself for her parents' divorce, because Dave paid more attention to her and her swimming career than he did to his wife. Dave tells her the divorce had nothing to do with her or Beth; if anything, he and his wife papered over their differences and stayed together for the sake of their daughters, but after they moved out, there was no more reason to.
- It's Probably Nothing: Lee, the female looter, initially isn't sure about Haley's distress call, then wonders if its someone trying to shoot them for looting (although she seems to change her mind and be glancing at the house more carefully herself right before being attacked).
- "Jaws" First-Person Perspective: As expected from a movie revolving around water-based predators.
- Kill It with Fire: Haley jams a lit flare into one gator's eye while it has her in a death roll. It doesn't kill it, but it wounds and disorients it enough for her to escape.
- Lightning Reveal: Haley emerges from the safe part of the basement, keeping a careful eye on the alligator in the corner... then hears a hiss and turns her head just in time for a flash of lightning to reveal a second one right behind her.
- Living Motion Detector: Dave and Haley are standing hip-deep in a flooded street when the alligators swim right past them. They both freeze, knowing that if they so much as twitch, they're dead.
- Loyal Animal Companion: Sugar to both Haley and Dave. Even though there are alligators who could eat him as a snack, he refuses to abandon them and is constantly waiting for their return.
- Made of Iron: Haley and her dad are bitten and severely wounded several times, Dave gets his arm ripped off but none of these injuries impede them as much as you'd expect. Taken to the extreme late in the film, when Haley gets caught in a deathroll, and manages to keep going. Even with adrenaline keeping them going, they're outswimming alligators, climbing buildings, and walking around when such bites should have ripped muscles, crushed bone, and snapped tendons. It's very egregious given everyone else who gets bitten is instantly killed or debilitated.
- Mama Bear: Haley discovers that an alligator has laid eggs beneath the house, which have recently hatched. So at least one of the alligators is apparently the mother trying to drive humans away from her nest. Unlike most reptiles, crocodilians defend their nests.
- Meaningful Echo:
- In Flash Back, Dave gives a young Haley a Rousing Speech after she fails to place in her latest swim meet:Dave: What are you?
Haley: (sniffling) The apex predator.
Dave: That's right. The apex predator. All day. - In the present, when they are cornered by the alligators, and Haley has to outrace them to reach the police boat:Dave: You've got this! You're faster than them! What are you?! SWIM!
[She swims, boosts herself into the boat before a gator bites her leg off, and fires up the engine.]
Haley: Apex predator all day!
- In Flash Back, Dave gives a young Haley a Rousing Speech after she fails to place in her latest swim meet:
- Nature Is Not Nice: The alligators are portrayed as vicious, but have at least a partial excuse in that they have built a nest and laid a clutch of eggs in Dave's basement. And as the Tag Line for the poster points out, "They Were Here First".
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: As if being trapped during a hurricane isn't enough, Haley and her dad also have to deal with human-hunting alligators.
- Oh, Crap!: Dave and Haley start to wade across the flooded street towards the police boat, knowing that the rain will obscure the sound of their movements to the alligators. They are halfway across when the eye of the hurricane passes overhead, and the rain stops falling.
- Only the Leads Get a Happy Ending: Only Haley, her father and her dog are alive at the end as while we saw 5 people (3 looters and 2 policemen) get Eaten Alive by the alligators.
- Off with His Head!: As Pete is being devoured by a pack of alligators, you can see his head being torn off.
- Papa Wolf: Dave Keller. Not even losing an arm will keep him from protecting his daughter.
- Police Are Useless: Haley calls for help over the portable radio, but the police are both eaten within minutes of arriving.
- Product Placement: A few brand names are placed conspicuously throughout the first 20 minutes or so.
- Relationship-Salvaging Disaster: Haley and Dave were estranged, but surviving their ordeal reminds her how much she still loves him, even before they are rescued.
- Revealing Reflection: The looter inside the store sees a gator creeping up behind him through the mirror used to watch for robbers.
- Rising Water, Rising Tension: Haley and Dave's need to escape the basement is increased by the fact that it's only a matter of time before the hurricane floods it. When the levee dikes break and a massive wave washes over Coral Lake, this goes for the rest of the house at an insane rate.
- Rule of Three: Haley gets bitten no less than three times over the course of the film.
- Sewer Gator: Dave surmises the alligators got into their basement through a storm drain.
- Shovel Strike: Dave uses a shovel to defend himself from an alligator attack and partially decapitate it.
- Siblings in Crime: Two of the looters, Marv and Stan, are brothers (the third appears to be one of their girlfriends).
- So Proud of You: In the basement, Haley admits to Dave that, as mad as she is at him, she misses seeing him at her swim meets, and any victory she wins feels hollow without him cheering her on. At the end, Dave beams as Haley successfully signals the rescue chopper from the roof of the house, saving both their lives.
- Somewhere, a Herpetologist Is Crying: Real life alligators are rather placid compared to crocodiles, and humans are not their preferred prey. Even if the writer replaced the antagonists with saltwater crocodiles (arguably the most aggressive crocodilian and who had no qualms about eating humans), a herpetologist would likely still be hesitant to call these animal behaviors realistic. They also don't build underground nests because they need sunlight to keep the eggs warm. And female alligators try to seek secluded areas away from humans and other alligators to build their nests.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: After the last scene fades out, the credits roll to the upbeat rock song "See You Later, Alligator" by Bill Haley & His Comets.
- Super-Persistent Predator: Real alligators would generally try to find somewhere sheltered to hunker down during a hurricane, not go hunting. However, the gators are shown to have built a nest in the basement, so not only are they hungry, they also have eggs to defend.
- This Is Gonna Suck: After a gator wounds her leg, Haley wraps a tourniquet around it, then braces herself for a moment before tightening it. When she does, it takes all her effort not to scream.
- Trapped-with-Monster Plot: Haley and her father are trapped in their house by an incoming category 5 hurricane, which prevents them from easily getting help. To make matters worse, a group of alligators have moved into the house with the rising floodwaters, and alligators can swim better than humans can.
- Truth in Television: The gator's death roll when it bites Haley's shoulder. Real gators use this to disorient their prey.
- The Unfavorite: As Dave regains consciousness, he initially mistakes Haley for her older sister Beth. She looks more than a little hurt, but to be fair, they're estranged, and Beth would be the one more likely to come looking for him. Dave also reminds Haley that she taught herself to cross a swimming pool on one breath because she was mad that Beth figured out how to do it first.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Almost Dave's first words to Haley upon regaining consciousness:Dave: Why did you come here?
Haley: You're welcome. - You Can't Go Home Again: Dave admits to Haley that he couldn't bring himself to sell their old house, because it was the last place where he, his wife, and their daughters were truly a family. Haley tells him that the house is just a house, and their relationship is his real home.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Said almost word for word, with an f-bomb thrown in by Haley. Once Haley, Dave and Sugar get in a boat just as the levies give out. There is still a chance... only for the water to smash their boat right back into their exact same house!
