Antonio Banderas Takes on Cartel Boss Role in New Shark Thriller ‘Above & Below’

Shark movies have become a summer staple over the past decade, emerging almost every year with a familiar formula of stranded swimmers and lurking predators filling a lean runtime. Many of these films tend to blur together, relying on jump scares and open water panic rather than introducing anything genuinely fresh to the subgenre.

This year’s entry aims to break that mold by merging two genres that rarely share the spotlight. A new trailer for ‘Above & Below’ has surfaced online, promising a blend of cage diving terror and full-blown crime thriller, set to hit theaters before the month concludes.

The plot follows five friends on what starts as a routine shark diving trip off the coast of Mexico, which quickly spirals into chaos when the group accidentally stumbles upon a stash of cocaine belonging to a dangerous drug cartel. Two of the friends, Tatiana and Kaley, find themselves trapped in a shark cage, forced by the cartel to retrieve a bag of drugs from the ocean floor, battling great white sharks, dwindling oxygen, and armed killers lurking above.

Banderas leads the cast as Burns, the ruthless mastermind behind the operation, portrayed by the film’s producers as a man forged in violence, broad-shouldered and cold-eyed, whose mere presence commands both respect and fear. He is joined by Laura Marano in the lead survival role of Tatiana, alongside Christina Ochoa, with Marano using her character’s wit and resourcefulness to try to outlast both the sharks and the men hunting her group.

Production wrapped last year after filming in Spain, including the Canary Islands, providing the underwater sequences with a distinctive visual backdrop. The film secured international sales deals across more than a dozen territories, including Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, ahead of the American Film Market, indicating strong confidence in its crossover appeal even before the trailer was released.

Rounding out the ensemble are Timothy V. Murphy, Louis Mandylor, and Jess Liaudin, along with Diego Llinás, Donncha Tynan, Ryan Bertroche, Ramiro Alonso, Rodrigo Poisón, and Mario Tardón. ‘Above & Below’ swims into theaters on July 29, and with Banderas trading his usual charm for outright menace as a cartel boss, this looks like one shark thriller that might truly stand out from the crowded pack.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!