The new year brings us “Underwater,” a taut, suspenseful horror/thriller movie about people drilling for resources at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. It wastes no time getting to the action and provides a minimum of explanation as six people try to escape their oceanic doom.

The film begins with a montage of newspaper headlines discussing the undersea drilling operation of Tian Industries in the Pacific Ocean, almost seven miles down. A few passages note that strange, unexplained events are rumored to have happened. These all are denied by the company.

We segue to Norah (Kristen Stewart) in some kind of locker room where her voice-over narration discusses how it is difficult to differentiate waking from dreaming in the state of isolation she is in. This made me concerned from the get-go that the entire film would turn out to be some kind of dream sequence, a device which I loathe. Fortunately, this was not the case.

No sooner is she in the hallway when water drips onto her and all hell breaks loose as the structure is breached. She runs through the floodwaters with Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie). They have to close some doors shut and sacrifice others to survive.

Catching their breath, they stumble through the wreckage and literally uncover Paul (T.J. Miller) under some rubble. The three proceed to a central command center where the other three actors who will comprise the intrepid band seeking to escape are. These include the Captain (Vincent Cassel), Emily (Jessica Henwick), and Liam (John Gallagher, Jr.).

The Captain explains that they need to walk on the ocean floor through various routes until they reach the central drill shaft, up which they will ascend to freedom. On the journey, various pounding noises and more destruction occur. Eventually they encounter a creepy life form eating the body of one of their co-workers.

So it goes. What is really out in the ocean? Will the Captain’s plan work? Will all of them survive?

The film is immensely successful in evoking an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. There are confined air pockets in the wreckage. As they walk along the seabed, the ocean is so dark that it is like walking through a lightless passage in a haunted house. The diving suits run out of oxygen at times and there is possible suffocation.

There are some good jump-start scares for viewers, but this is a movie that is short on gore for its own sake. Most of the frights involve the creatures they encounter and threats to their immediate safety. But the primary sense that pervades the picture is an overpowering dread and sense of hopelessness.

The pacing is first-rate. The film wastes no time in beginning the adventure and moves steadily along. Moments where the six characters relate to each other are few and short when they do occur.

Of course this means a minimum of dialogue and hence one questions the need for an actress with the experience of Kristen Stewart. I am aware of the polarizing effect she can have on viewers, and as the main character she does get voice-over as well as speaking lines. But her performance is unexceptional as it is for all of the other performers.

The one exception to this is T.J. Miller as Paul. He is his usual witty and frank self and provides a welcome dose of comic relief. I frankly wish that there had been more of this type of dialogue.

The cinematography is sometimes so dimly lit that I wonder how well this will transfer to Blu-Ray or DVD. If it is hard to make things out in the theater on a giant screen, this has to be a cause for concern for smaller-screen enjoyment.

The production design is a highlight of the film. Everything looks authentic, even the damaged structures. Exterior shots, when you can make them out, of the drill site look realistic. The diving suits are nicely designed.

I was less impressed with the creature effects. The end credits did not include the usual endless roll of visual effects crew and so it is likely the movie was made on the cheap. I prefer clearer shots of the creatures than I was shown. But I am not sure how much I can discount the film for this since underwater and through a visor they might not be easily made out. So if realism was the goal, the picture succeeds.

One thing that I do fault the film for is that it suffered from taking too long for a creature reveal. The wait became annoying especially after the discovery of the baby flesh-eater.

This picture does not enter any new territory for a horror film. Yet it was engaging, concise, and had some intense, scary moments. By not over-explaining the plot line or developments, the emphasis in “Underwater” is kept on the visual experience, which in this case pays off.

This is usually a slow time of year for new releases. This movie is a good choice to see now on the big screen.

Three out of five stars

A crew of underwater researchers must scramble to safety after an earthquake devastates their subterranean laboratory.

Starring Kristen Stewart, T.J. Miller, Vincent Cassel, John Gallagher Jr., Jessica Henwick, Mamoudou Athie, Gunner Wright
Directed by William Eubank