Antonio Banderas Trades Zorro’s Sword for Shark-Infested Waters in New ‘Above and Below’ Trailer

Shark movies have carved out a reliable niche in the thriller genre for decades, but the newest entry in the subgenre is bringing some unexpected star power to the deep end. A new trailer has just surfaced for a film that combines cage diving terror with a full blown criminal conspiracy, and it is set to hit theaters later this month.

‘Above and Below’ comes from director Jesse V. Johnson, the British stuntman turned filmmaker behind action titles like ‘Accident Man’ and ‘Avengement’, working from a script by Tony Giordano. The film centers on a group of five close friends who set off on what is meant to be an unforgettable tropical vacation built around a thrilling shark cage diving excursion.

That dream trip quickly spirals into a nightmare once the group discovers their diving excursion is actually a front for a criminal operation. According to the film’s official synopsis, the group is attacked by criminals in open water, leading to a deadly confrontation that leaves two of the friends, Tatiana and Kaley, trapped beneath the surface with dwindling oxygen and no shortage of sharks circling nearby.

Antonio Banderas leads the cast as Burns, the ruthless figure behind the operation gone wrong. The film’s producers have described Burns as a man forged in violence, broad-shouldered and cold-eyed, someone whose mere presence commands both respect and fear, and who treats the ocean itself as no mystery at all.

Banderas is joined by Laura Marano in the lead role of Tatiana, alongside Christina Ochoa and Mario Tardón rounding out the ensemble. Marano, known for roles in projects like ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘The Royal Treatment’, takes on much of the film’s survival driven back half, using her character’s wit and resourcefulness to try to outlast both the sharks and the men hunting her group.

Production on the film wrapped last year after filming took place in Spain, including the Canary Islands, giving the underwater sequences a distinct visual backdrop. The film is produced by Spain’s AF Films, with Capstone Pictures handling worldwide distribution and its Capture division managing international sales, a rollout that has already secured deals across markets including Germany, France, Italy, and several other territories ahead of release.

The new trailer leans heavily into the film’s high concept hook, framing the danger in stark, numeric terms, thirty feet below the surface, only ten minutes of oxygen remaining, and a single apex predator standing between the survivors and safety. That kind of tight, ticking clock premise has become something of a signature for genre entries in this space, and the marketing here appears designed to lean fully into that tension.

‘Above and Below’ is scheduled to swim into theaters on July 29, landing in the middle of a summer already packed with high-profile releases. For a film built around a relatively simple survival premise, pairing that concept with an actor of Banderas’s stature as the villain adds an extra layer of intrigue heading into its theatrical debut.

Given Johnson’s background in stunt-heavy, physically grounded action filmmaking, expectations are that the underwater sequences will lean into practical tension rather than relying purely on digital effects to sell the danger. Whether the film can carve out its own identity in an increasingly crowded shark thriller market remains to be seen once it finally reaches audiences.

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