Carrie McCarthy writes, "There is a lot of water in The Shallows, which surprises me as it always does in artists’ work. Using such an obvious trope is a big risk. Art and literature are already so full of stories of rivers and beaches, and waves that overwhelm. Water as a metaphor – cleansing, baptism, renewal – the phases of human life depicted in the ebb and flow of the tide. We stay afloat, tread water, swim against the tide." 

McCarthy's deeply thoughtful review of Abbey McCulloch's 'The Shallows' can be found here.