The Final Girl In Sharksploitation.

Final Girl, The last girl left alive in a horror genre movie. This trope has been with us nearly forty years, however it’s not until The Shallows 2016 that we get a definitive final girl in Sharksploitation. So why did it take nearly thirty years to happen. It was not till I witnessed the underwhelming final girl in Bikini Shark 2025 that I got to thinking, has this trope ever been done right ? Yes, We do have an Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) class final girl in Blake Lively ( actress Nancy Adam’s) the protagonist in the Shallows 2016. Prior to this the causes for a lack of a sharksploitation genre defining final girl could be due to,

Male Genderifying Politics. Jaws was a three guy buddy movie in a superficial sense so it’s quite possible that it set the bar. Twenty five years on and there was still a slew of movies from the beginning of the 21st century that typified male genderifying, this typified by the likes of movies produced by Rodger Corman. These took a very limiting view of using powerful women and often opted for the damsel in distress.

 Target Audience. I believe there is a strong case to be made in the silly shark movie category for the post pubescent male as target audience. Let’s say the silly shark movies heyday was roughly 2000 to at least 2015. These are still with us today but to a lesser extent. Found mainly in the low budget independents. This era typified and exacerbated the bikini count and the damsel in distress tropes. Strong female characters are often intimidating to this audience.

Cultural. Sharksploitation has gone global in this decade reaching into new markets other than the traditional USA,UK and European. China which has a growing back catalog of Sharksploitation movies has only produced one final girl to date, actress Chloe Zhao in Huge Shark 2021? More often women are portrayed as the weak sex (exception, Shark Evil 2023)and somewhat hysterical characters. UPDATE: The Shallows 2025 ( formally known as Shark Beach ) has a true final girl hero in Xiaoyun Chen. 

Sigourney Weaver in Alien 1979 should be our ideal as a sharksploitation final girl, this movie ranks high on any final girl movie list. Clearly Alien 1979 does not play to gender politics or sexuality and neither does The Shallows 2016. So it can be done right for this genre with those aspects in mind.

Apart from The Shallows 2016 here are some other contenders from the last ten years and some near misses.

Nearly but not quite

Tara Reid deserves a mention here as she survived all 6 Sharknado movies although she didn’t fare so well in Trailer Park Shark 2017 ( also known as Shark Shock)

Actress Sarah Lieving, who appeared in Super Shark 2011, Mega Shark v Crocosaurus 2010 and also Shark Terror 2025. Although not the final girl she deserved to be noted for her portrayal of strong female characters.

Deep Blue Sea 1999, Perhaps the closest near miss final girl contender was Dr Susan McCallister  who actually makes it to the finale but not quite the final person. Because of her performance I really wanted her to be a final girl.

The Reef 2010, Kate (actress Zoe Naylor) was the final girl here but she does not fit the Ellen Ripley mould as although she shows great courage in the final act just by reentering the water, she is really a damsel in distress being helped by her male co protagonist in an ongoing chase.

Ozark Sharks 2016, Allison Ashley Arm playing Molly Kaye in an unintentional twist, becomes the almost final girl that kills the final shark!

Bikini Shark 2025, yes she (who ever she is) is a final girl but she hardly worked for the title.

Other Final Girls of note

Surrounded/Frenzy 2018, Paige (Actress Gina Vitori) is a final girl, although judging from her on screen swimming style she could easily have not been. 

47Metres Down 2017, Kate (Actress Mandy Moore) is a tragic final girl. No spoilers here as this is great  screen writing that you need to experience.

47 Metres Down Uncaged 2019, Two final girls, You have to see their tenacity, guts and energy to know why these characters should co host a final girl honour.

Huge Shark 2021, actress Chloe Zhao works overtime to out manoeuvre this whopper. A lot was borrowed from Australian shark movies though.

Dangerous Animals 2025: Has a final girl but I am yet to see this movie. Will update.