The Descent

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The Descent

R

2006

1h 39m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

Adventure

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

189 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

A year after a severe emotional trauma, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) goes to North Carolina to spend some time exploring caves with her friends; after descending underground, the women find strange cave paintings and evidence of an earlier expedition, then learn they are not alone: Underground predators inhabit the crevasses, and they have a taste for human flesh.

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Critics Consensus

Deft direction and strong performances from its all-female cast guide The Descent, a riveting, claustrophobic horror film.

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Alyx Vesey

Bitch Media

01/07/2021

While I think we should question the authority of the ubiquitous male writer-director to shape horror productions, I think Marshall does a good job representing his female characters.

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Sarah Lilleyman

TIME Magazine

10/15/2008

Marshall could very well be the Caravaggio of the B-movie.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

09/24/2007

This intermittently effective UK horror thriller carefully establishes the psychological relationships among the women, then squanders this calibrated and generally plausible setup with a series of crude, implausible, and scattershot horror effects.

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Marcelo Paredes

Cinencuentro

Feb 20

The Descent stands as a great horror film worth revisiting. It's a profoundly sensory work, the experience of which is significantly enhanced under optimal viewing conditions...[Full review in Spanish]

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Sebastian Zavala Kahn

Me gusta el cine

Feb 17

4.5/5

An unbearably tense, constantly surprising and visually inventive experience, which concludes in a depressing but appropriate way (thankfully, here it's arriving with the original British ending). [Full review in Spanish].

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Bryce Hanson

Horror Movie Talk

Sep 23

10/10

This is a fantastic horror movie that hits a lot of different beats of horror. It deals out claustrophobia, dread, jump scares, interpersonal drama, all while passing the Bechdel test. A rare accomplishment in any horror film.

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Taylor

Oct 12

The Descent scares from the first to last scene. Claustrophobic and nauseating in the best way.

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Sabra P

@Sabrapriz Jul 16

Writer and director Neil Marshall brushes with several unique strokes in crafting a film that bucks many of the genre’s trends while never running away from what makes the genre great.

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Joshua M

@Flameon Jul 7

One of the scariiest films ever made. Just the cave experience was frightening enough, but throwing in those silmy creatures just pushed the envelope.

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Fantazynerd 1

@RT48179632 Jul 4

This was just creepy af

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Shadow R

@GeminiShadowRealm Jul 3

The Descent is a horror flick that starts as a heavy emotional drama and devolves into a claustrophobic nightmare. After a tragic accident claims Sarah's family, her tight-knit group of adventurous friends gathers a year later for a spelunking trip to help her heal. The creatures look slimy and gross and are creepy, blind, humanoid creatures that hunt by sound and hoard piles of bones in the dark. While the action scenes and creature designs are top-tier, the real horror comes from the breakdown of the group itself. Paranoia and a devastating accidental betrayal tear the friends apart from the inside out, leading to a brutal, blood-soaked finale where survival instincts trump everything else.

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Daniel L

@Hotchopeppa Jul 2

Love it. Hands down the best supernatural, claustrophobic cave movie ever made. And one of my all time favourite horror / thrillers.

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Neil Marshall

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Synopsis

A year after a severe emotional trauma, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) goes to North Carolina to spend some time exploring caves with her friends; after descending underground, the women find strange cave paintings and evidence of an earlier expedition, then learn they are not alone: Underground predators inhabit the crevasses, and they have a taste for human flesh.

Director: Neil Marshall
Producer: Christian Colson
Screenwriter: Neil Marshall
Distributor: Lionsgate Films
Production Co: Celador Productions, Lionsgate Television
Rating: R (Strong Violence and Gore|Language)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 4, 2006, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $26.0M
Runtime: 1h 39m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)