The Sea Beast (PG), on Netflix
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This came out in 2022, but I didn't see it until 2025. It had a limited theatrical run before premiering on Netflix, but it's still a Netflix original film. I'm torn about whether to link to it in both my web film reviews and my theatrical film reviews, even though I've set a precedent before for such films. Now I'm rethinking that precedent. But whatever. It's a really good movie, and did very well with both critics and audiences.

It begins with a brief scene of a young boy clinging to driftwood after the ship he was on was wrecked, apparently by a giant sea monster. Then there's a scene set in an orphanage, years later. A young girl named Maisie Brumble reads a story about sea monster hunters to her fellow orphans. Then she runs away from the orphanage. Meanwhile, a ship called the Inevitable is chasing a sea monster called the Red Bluster, against which Captain Crow wants revenge. But before they can engage it in battle, they spot another ship being attacked by a different sea monster, so they go to help their fellow hunters. After a fierce battle, they manage to defeat that monster, and Crow cuts off a part of its horn as a trophy, which he and his crew take back to the King and Queen to collect a bounty. Crow also tells one of his crewmen, Jacob Holland (Karl Urban), that he will become captain of the Inevitable after they defeat the Red Bluster. This seems to me like a bit of a slap in the face to Crow's first mate, Sarah Sharpe, who I would expect to be first in line to be captain, but she doesn't seem to mind. Anyway, Jacob is like a son to Crow, who rescued him as a child (he was the kid from the opening scene).

While in port, Maisie approaches Jacob, wanting to join the crew. Her own parents had been hunters who were killed when their ship was destroyed by a sea monster. But Jacob dismisses her. Later, when Crow goes to the King and Queen, they inform him that the time of hunters is over, as the Navy will be hunting monsters from now on, with a heavily armed ship called the Imperator. Jacob then suggests a contest, to see which crew can defeat the Red Bluster first. If the crew of the Inevitable win, hunters will continue hunting sea monsters. The King and Queen agree to this, and the crew heads out to sea. Not long after leaving port, they discover that Maisie has stowed away. They eventually find the Red Bluster and engage it in battle. They throw harpoons tied to ropes to catch it, but it begins swimming in circles to create a whirlpool that could destroy the ship. Maisie cuts the ropes, against Crow's orders, but she and Jacob get thrown into the sea, and are swallowed by the Red Bluster.

It takes them to an island and lets them go. Maisie soon figures out that the monster isn't so monstrous after all. She befriends it and names it "Red". She also takes a small blue sea creature as a pet, and names it Blue. Jacob takes longer to convince that Red isn't bad, and that the stories everyone believes about how the war between humans and sea monsters started, centuries ago, aren't true. Eventually, they get Red to ferry them to a port city, but are intercepted first by the Imperator, and later by the Inevitable.

And... I think now I've said quite enough about the plot. I don't want to spoil any more. I liked the fact that there are different types of sea monsters, as it reminded me of How to Train Your Dragon. I thought all the characters were really good, especially Maisie. Crow rather reminded me of Captain Ahab, though I'm not well enough acquainted with the story "Moby-Dick" to say how accurate that comparison might be. Certainly he's obsessed, but he also seems nicer (most of the time) than I would expect Ahab to be. Anyway, the story as a whole just gets better and better as the movie progresses. (My guess as to what rating I would give the movie increased at least a couple of times throughout the story.) I really wish I could think of more to say. But there's going to be a sequel, and I look forward to that.