The Descent is a British horror film written and directed by Neil Marshall. Six women on a caving trip in the Appalachians enter an unmapped system and find they are not alone in it. It opened in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2005, and in the United States on August 4, 2006. Shauna Macdonald leads the cast. The American cut and the original cut do not end in the same place.
At a glance
| Release date | July 8, 2005 (United Kingdom); August 4, 2006 (United States) |
| Director | Neil Marshall |
| Writer | Neil Marshall |
| Starring | Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, MyAnna Buring, Nora-Jane Noone |
| Runtime | 99 minutes |
| Rating | R |
| Genre | Horror, survival |
| Budget | About $3.5 million |
| Box office | About $26 million domestic; about $57 million worldwide |
Plot summary
A year after a car accident kills her husband and daughter, Sarah agrees to a caving trip organized by Juno. The group is all women. Juno has not told them the system is unmapped. A collapse seals the route they came in by. Then they find climbing gear that is not theirs, and bones, and something that moves on the walls. The creatures are blind. Sound is what draws them.
Spoiler section: the ending
Juno wounds Beth by mistake and leaves her. Sarah confronts Juno, wounds her, and leaves her to the creatures. In the original cut, Sarah’s escape to the car is a dream. She is still in the cave. The U.S. release ends on the dream: Sarah in the car, Juno’s ghost in the passenger seat, credits.
Production and behind the scenes
Marshall made this after Dog Soldiers. He set the story in the Appalachians and shot it in Britain, at Pinewood, on cave sets. The crawlers were played by performers in prosthetics. Marshall kept the light practical: helmet lamps, flares, a camera flash.
Release and reception
The U.K. opening was July 2005. The U.S. opening was August 4, 2006. Domestic gross was about $26 million. Worldwide, about $57 million. A sequel, The Descent: Part 2, followed in 2009.
Cast
- Shauna Macdonald as Sarah
- Natalie Mendoza as Juno
- Alex Reid as Beth
- Saskia Mulder as Rebecca
- MyAnna Buring as Sam
- Nora-Jane Noone as Holly
Trivia
- The U.S. cut stops on the car. The original cut returns Sarah to the cave.
- The Appalachian setting was filmed on sets in the U.K.
- The crawlers hunt by sound.
- Runtime is 99 minutes. The rating is R.
Related on this site
Sinister (2012), The Witch (2015), and It Follows (2014)
Trailer
Go Behind the Screams
Director Neil Marshall reveals behind-the-scenes secrets of the film.