47 Meters Down Ending Explained and Plot Twist

Last updated on October 3rd, 2024 at 10:41 pm

47 Meters Down (2017) is a survival thriller movie directed by Johannes Roberts. Okay, so… surprise ending. The film is not as good as Jaws or The Shallows (2016), but I liked it. I’ve got the ending explained right here.

47 Meters Down Ending Explained and Plot Story with Twists in details

* * * Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t seen the movie yet, turn back now! * * *

The movie starts with Lisa and Kate. They are two sisters spending their vacation in a Mexican resort. At night, Kate finds out Lisa recently broke up with her boyfriend. They go to a late-night party for refreshment. There, they meet two local guys named Javier and Louis. They are professional drivers, and they go into the ocean every weekend to watch sharks closely. That’s a thrilling adventure for them. This weekend, they are also planning to go there and invite the sisters. They accept.

Lisa and Kate enjoyed the party in Mexico.

They all go to the docks on a prescheduled day. The owner of the boat is Captain Taylor. Javier throws fish blood into the water, attracting sharks and drawing them to the dock.

Within a short time, they all saw several sharks. Lisa became slightly nervous after seeing the sharks and the supporting cable. But Kate convinces her to go into the water.

Kate is a certified, experienced driver, but other side Lisa is new. When Taylor asked them about their driving experience, Kate lied and said they were both experts.

In response, Taylor sends Lisa and Kate down into the water with cages. He provides oxygen tanks and communication devices to talk to him on the surface and to each other underwater.

In no time, great white sharks surrounded them. Unfortunately, the cable breaks without giving the movers any time to move. The sisters are locked inside the cage, and it sinks 47 meters below the sea and gets stuck. Currently, they are beyond the boat’s communication range.

Taylor and Kate communicate as Kate swims up seven meters. She informs him about their low oxygen status. Suddenly, a shark tries to attack her. Somehow, she avoids it and returns to the cage for safety.

Javier comes to rescue the girls with a spear gun. However, a great white shark kills him.

Lisa grabs the spear gun. Also, she manages to attach the cage to the winch cable and swim back to the cell. It also snaps despite connecting the spare cable, causing the cage to sink again. Lisa’s leg is now pinned to the cage.

Kate goes up to talk to Taylor. He tells them to stay inside the cage for one hour and keep them safe. In an hour, the Coast Guard will arrive. Additionally, he throws two oxygen tanks their way. Obviously, the air is running out, and the situation is almost in a red zone.

Taylor warns them that nitrogen narcosis may result from using the new oxygen tank. Thus, they can cause hallucinations.

Upon returning to the cage, the great white shark attacked Kate.

Lisa is out of the air, and a tank is near her. But it is out of her range because of her pinning leg. She manages to grab the tank and take a breath.

47 Meters Down (2017) movie hallucination explained

Johannes Roberts’ 47 Meters Down has much to do with Lisa’s hallucination. Did Lisa have a hallucination at the end of the movie? Is Lisa’s hallucination true? Why does she hallucinate? Well, Lisa hallucinated.

To avoid the bends, Lisa and Kate were told by Captain Taylor to stop for five minutes halfway up the surface. But Lisa had no choice but to wait because sharks surrounded them.

The sisters reach the surface and race to the boat in an exhilarating escape. In this case, Lisa was the only one bitten by a shark and dragged down by it. Initially, that seems implausible. After scratching the creature’s eye, Lisa is pulled onto the boat. As Lisa looked at the bleeding wound on her hand, she realized it was getting worse and oozing in the air.

This escape was a hallucination; Lisa is still pinned to the cage’s bottom. As Taylor warned that switching tanks could lead to nitrogen narcosis, 47 Meters Down set up this reveal. Lisa had a vivid hallucination about saving Kate as a result of this. Eventually, Lisa is rescued by divers and returned to the boat. Finally, she accepts that a shark killed her sister.

What is nitrogen narcosis (in general)?

Nitrogen narcosis is a condition that occurs when one breathes air containing high concentrations of nitrogen. It can be caused by breathing air at depths where the pressure of the surrounding water is more significant than atmospheric pressure. This can occur with scuba diving and other situations, including flying at high altitudes.

Nitrogen narcosis results from the brain’s response to the increased pressure on the body. At increased pressures, nitrogen dissolves into the body’s tissues and blood. This can change the way you think, which can cause problems like bad judgment and lousy motor skills.

Exposure to high concentrations of nitrogen for long periods of time can lead to permanent damage or even death.

Is 47 Meters Down based on a true story?

Johannes Roberts, the director of the movie, confirms in an interview that this is a fictional plot. He says,

If you went down 47 meters in a cage to the bottom of the ocean with a tank and you were an inexperienced diver, you would probably last about three minutes before you died or ran out of air. So yeah, sure, it is ridiculous. But it is a movie, you know?

What actually happened at the end of the movie?

At the very end of the movie 47 Meters Down, Lisa is rescued by the coast Guard. But Kate (played by Claire Holt) died from the shark’s bite. Lisa sometimes hallucinated, and in her thoughts, she and Kate tried to escape. But in reality, that was not right. Javier also died of a shark attack. Captain Taylor and Louis survived, and they called the coast guards. The movie ends with a sad ending, but the ultimate journey of watching it was pleasant for its breath-pumping twist.

47 Meter Down movie ending meaning

The slasher film 47 Meters Down is filled with emotional tension, melancholy, and sadness. 47 Meters Down’s meaningful message is shown in the film’s finale, in which the viewer is reminded of the importance of working together and thinking before taking unnecessary risks. It is odd enough that the film is highly effective for viewers. As a result, the proceedings become tenser.