The Kristen Stewart Sci-Fi Horror Movie Killing It On Hulu Right Now

There are many movies that originally come out in theaters and completely bomb at the box office only to find critical appreciation and a massive following later on. Even classics like Dazed and Confused, which made just under $8 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), sometimes barely cover their budgets on their long march into film history. Streaming has made this phenomenon even more prominent.

Kristen Stewart, who earned her way to fame after starring in the Twilight saga, went on to have major roles in a series of critically acclaimed indie films, like Personal Shopper and Still Alice. Recently, she decided to jump back into bigger budget films within the action genre, with Charlie's Angels and Underwater. The former film came out in November of 2019, while Underwater came out in January of 2020. Neither did very well at the box office, with the more recent release only making $41 million against a budget between $50-80 million according to Box Office Mojo. Both films received mixed reviews from critics and audiences, so perhaps the poor box office returns were earned.

Except now it turns out that one of Stewart's recent flops is officially getting a second life. Following the trend of many movies that came before it, Underwater has found a whole new audience after its recent release on Hulu – and streamers are digging it.

In Underwater, Stewart plays a character named Norah Price, a mechanical engineer who works on the Kepler 822, a facility that sits at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, the deepest deep-sea trench on Earth and the object of sci-fi filmmakers' fascination since James Cameron first plumbed its lightless depths in 1989's The Abyss. After an earthquake destroys a large portion of Kepler, Price and her team try to escape and return to the surface, but find themselves facing a series of difficult obstacles — like a distinct lack of escape pods. It quickly gets worse when they are forced to travel on the ocean floor to another base for help and encounter an undiscovered species of vicious, aggressive creatures.

As many have observed, Ridley Scott's Alien is a clear influence on the claustrophobic sci-fi horror film. Just like in space, there's a lot humans don't know about what exists down in the extreme depths, and Underwater takes advantage of that, creating an intense, action-filled story that plays on the feeling of being in a dark, unknown place with no chance of escape. Along with Stewart, the cast includes Vincent Cassel, Mamoudou Athie, Jessica Henwick, and John Gallagher Jr.

If you are looking for an intense action-adventure or a sci-fi horror story, Underwater is an amazing option, and it's currently available to stream on Hulu.