Overview
A group of friends faces their darkest fears in the depths of an uncharted cave.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Graphic
- claustrophobic
- foreboding
- visceral
- late night horror marathon
- halloween viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a nerve-jangling and visually nightmarish survival horror experience, especially for its claustrophobic atmosphere and effective scares.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The women must crawl, squeeze, climb, and navigate darkness through narrow unexplored cave passages.
Sarah's grief after the deaths of her husband and daughter is placed against the escalating cave ordeal.
Sarah, Juno, Beth, Rebecca, Sam, and Holly must rely on one another while personal tensions undermine group survival.
Cave paintings and signs of previous visitors foreshadow that the supposedly unexplored route contains hidden dangers.
Films like The Descent, and why
The Cave
Shares claustrophobic survival horror, subterranean isolation, escalating creature attacks, and visceral physical danger.
The Ritual
Combines female-centered survival, psychologically intense trauma, confined environments, and relentless horror tension.
As Above, So Below
Features a trapped expedition, hostile subterranean threats, graphic creature violence, and mounting paranoia.
Dog Soldiers
Shares survival horror, female friendship under pressure, bodily peril, and a bleak atmosphere of entrapment.
Movie Details
- Director
- Neil Marshall
- Release Date
- 2005-07-08
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (4602)
Cast
- Shauna Macdonald
- Natalie Mendoza
- Alex Reid
- Saskia Mulder
- MyAnna Buring
- Nora-Jane Noone
- Oliver Milburn
- Molly Kayll
- Craig Conway
- Tristan Matthiae
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- BFI Player Amazon Channel, MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Descent about?
- A grief-stricken woman and her friends face betrayal, darkness, and bloodthirsty cave creatures during a doomed subterranean expedition.
- What is The Descent like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Descent as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Descent violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Descent as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Descent?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a nerve-jangling and visually nightmarish survival horror experience, especially for its claustrophobic atmosphere and effective scares.
- Which films are like The Descent?
- Films with a similar feel include The Cave, The Ritual, As Above, So Below, and Dog Soldiers.
- How long is The Descent?
- The Descent runs 100 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Descent?
- In United States, The Descent streams on BFI Player Amazon Channel, MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel.
