We were joined on the Popternative show by director Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2, Truth or Dare) to discuss his new shark survival thriller, The Devil’s Mouth, now streaming on Prime Video. Set against the coastal caves of Thailand, the film follows a group of friends whose adventure turns into a fight for survival when they become trapped with deadly sharks—specifically, a bull shark.
The cast features Kathryn Newton (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Big Little Lies), Lana Condor (Pretty Lethal, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before), Nico Hiraga (Sweethearts, Love in Taipei), Gavin Casalegno (The Summer I Turned Pretty, Queen of the Ring), Tommi Rose (Sweet Magnolias, A Savannah Haunting), and Tayme Thapthimthong (Alien: Earth, The White Lotus). During our conversation, Wadlow discussed bringing the high-stakes survival story to life, filming in Thailand, crafting the film’s suspense, and working with its talented ensemble cast.
One of the biggest surprises during production was that The Devil’s Mouth wasn’t originally planned to take place in Thailand. Wadlow revealed that the location change happened just days before filming was set to begin, prompting a last-minute rewrite that shaped the film’s identity. He explained:
“It really helped being in Thailand. You know, that was a last minute decision. We were going to shoot the movie in the Dominican Republic. 10 days before I was supposed to leave for the DR, the studio called me up and said, “Hey, these soundstages became available in Thailand. This crew became available. What do you think?” I was like, “I’m definitely allergic to peanuts. That’s a terrible idea. Let’s stick with our plan.” [But] they just continued to [tell me about] the the production value that I would be able to get from Thailand. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a perfect fit. So I did a quick rewrite, set the movie in Thailand, thought a lot about that soccer team that got trapped in that cave system when it flooded, I went and looked at some of the real caves and it just sort of all came together.“
While preparing to direct his first shark thriller, Wadlow sought advice from filmmakers who had already tackled the genre. One of those conversations was with director Xavier Gens, whose Netflix hit Under Paris offered valuable insight into the challenges of making a shark movie.
“I had never made a shark movie before. So, there was a lot of exploration and learning. One of the things I like to do is find filmmakers who made a similar movie to the one I’m [about to make] so I can ask them what they learned. Xavier [Gens] who made Under Paris, he actually happened to be shooting a movie in Thailand at the time. I got in touch with him through his first AD who was also my first AD on this movie and we had coffee. It was so helpful.”
Watch the full conversation with Jeff Wadlow below.
The Devil’s Mouth is streaming on Prime Video.
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