The short version of the review is that these kinds of films review themselves. Are you the kind of viewer who would enjoy a modestly-budgeted 90-minute thriller in which two young woman in swimsuits are menaced by an orca on a remote atoll? If so, there is a reasonable chance that you will at least find some moderate entertainment in Jo-anne Brechin’s Killer Whale. If, however, you are seeking depth of character or decent production values, then you already know you will not find this to be sufficient. No one on either side needs a film critic to tell them what to do.

Maddie (Virginia Gardner) is a talented young cellist recovering from a shock tragedy that saw her permanently deafened and her boyfriend killed. One year after the incident she is invited on a Thailand vacation by best friend Trish (Mel Jarnson). There a journey to an isolated, reportedly haunted atoll goes horribly wrong when they are ambushed by an enraged orca named Ceto.

I know what you are thinking: there is literally no recorded case of wild orca attacking, let alone killing, human beings. The only confirmed human deaths ever are of employees of marine parks that have imprisoned individual animals for entertainment purposes, and those animals have slowly gone insane. There is no better profile of this behaviour than Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s 2013 documentary Blackfish, and that film clearly inspired much of Brechin and Katharine McPhee’s screenplay here. Ceto has lived 20 years in captivity and, upon murdering several people, was simply dumped into the open ocean to avoid further scrutiny. It enables the film to engage in a little commentary on animal rights, which to be fair lifts it above the typical D-grade works that make up this genre.

Keeping with that sense of fairness, though, there is not much else in Killer Whale that elevates it. Performances by Gardner and Jarnson are committed and solid, although they have little to work with beyond panic and upset. In Gardner’s case, and following from her similar role in Fall (2022), she may wish to avoid going on any more adventuring holidays in future.

The film is betrayed by its weak digital effects, which are likely caused by its limited finances, but there are always creative means to overcome these problems and Brechin fails to exploit them. It also feels a little stretched-out at 90 minutes – some judicious cuts would likely have left a shorter but more engaging version of the film.

This is not a great film, and it demonstrates a significant lack of originality or innovative technique. At the same time, there is an audience for this sort of disposable entertainment, and for those viewers the predictability can honestly form part of the appeal. One knows what they are getting with Killer Whale, and what the film promises is precisely what it delivers – no more, no less. Any further analysis honestly seems redundant.

Killer Whale is available to rent on Australian and New Zealand digital platforms, including Apple TV, Prime, Foxtel Store, YouTube, Google TV, Fetch, and Sky NZ, from 20 February.