If you’re ready to mumble “WTF!” while watching an intense action thriller, The Black Demon is waiting for you. What twisted fun it can be. A business trip to the Mexican town of Bahia Azul with the family takes a grim turn here when oil man Paul Sturges (Josh Lucas of Yellowstone and Ford v Ferrari) finds himself battling a megalodon shark that sees humans as a real threat to its territory.

True, we’ve gotten a rise out of shark films before in thrillers like The Meg and Shark Attack, but what works in this action-thriller’s favor is the inventive spin director Adrian Grünberg (Rambo: Last Blood) and screenwriter Boise Esquerra offer from Carlos Cisco’s original story. Seems Mr. Megalodon isn’t just making a prehistoric age comeback; the beast is part of a real-life Latin American folklore known as El Demonio Negro. The demon takes the form of a megalodon, a terrifying, massive shark that lived millions of years ago, and, some believe, still exists.

In The Black Demon, however, the filmmakers make the creature an emissary acting on behalf of Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain and fertility, to reclaim an ocean that’s been environmentally compromised by human greed. Much of the action takes place on a deserted oil rig, something that befuddles Paul, Lucas’ character. Ultimately, Paul and the family discover the horror that came before them. Interesting to note: A cute little dog comes along for the thrills.

The Black Demon also stars Fernanda Urrejola (Cry Macho, Narcos: Mexico), Julio César Cedillo, Venus Ariel, Raúl Méndez, and Héctor Jiménez. Josh Lucas shared more about the film with MovieWeb.

Confronting a Mammoth Beast in Black Demon

MovieWeb: Congratulations on the film and Yellowstone, too, for that matter. So, I have to ask. If you were faced with this particular situation in real life, how would you respond to this mega creature?

Josh Lucas: I can’t imagine something scarier, that’s for sure.

MW: Exactly. I appreciate the climate change spin offered here.

Josh Lucas: I will say that it was the responsibility of the filmmaking to figure out how my character would respond in real life if his family was in this kind of jeopardy. Then there’s the added element of my character, Paul, feeling so much guilt, because he’s the reason why all this happened.

MW: The story has an interesting twist, for sure.

Josh Lucas: I really liked the idea that this script had this, I would say, corporate American structure. The way these big oil companies go down into countries throughout the world and destroy nature and cause havoc. That was an interesting element to the story. So yeah, I mean, look… luckily I don’t have some sort of guilt-ridden corporate job. That’s the reason why a shark is attacking the family in the film. But the legend really struck me and if I was in that situation, yeah, I mean, everything is about survival, right? Everything is about providing for your family and attempting to help them survive inside a dire situation.

Related: Meg 2: Exploring the Cinematic Fascination With Shark Features in 2023

Putting an Inventive Spin on a Shark Thriller

The Avenue

MW: Can you share more about some of the intricate things that took place during filming? There’s water and elaborate sets. What really stood out and/or challenged you?

Josh Lucas: My favorite story about this movie I heard on the very final day. It’s that they built this structure, which is basically a big part of an oil rig, or what looks like an oil rig. But it would be a small oil rig, which actually exists down in Baja off the coast there. They built it in a water tank connected to the ocean. So, the ocean water is coming in and out, but the tank is clean to an extent, much more like a pool.

MW: Interesting set-up.

Josh Lucas: They’d never built a metal structure inside the tank before. They’d only had boats and different things like that. So, because it was stationary, what happened is the metal started to rust and to change. It started to grow microbiomes, and little jellyfish started to appear. And again, the tank is as clean as they can possibly keep it, but because the metal was there, it started to come to life. And so, the water started to change.

Josh Lucas: They started to see these really crazy visuals — beautiful things that were happening in the water around the middle of this tank that we built. And the director of photography, this really beautiful Mexican director of photography, started to go there every morning and watch the sunrise. He said he was watching the water come to life […] Literally, it was becoming its own microclimate in a way. I was really struck by that.

Related: Maneater Review: A Silly Shark Attack Movie

MW: Fascinating. So, what do you really hope audiences take away from The Black Demon?

Josh Lucas: I always go into these things with the idea that it’s our job to entertain, right? And yet, as much as possible, when you’re making something that’s hopefully fun and scary, hopefully there’s also truth underneath it. I loved the idea that for this story, they brought together all these filmmakers from all over the world. I was actually the only American. You had people from Mexico and Colombia and Chile and Argentina, and really, all over, particularly Latin countries.

Josh Lucas: I don’t want to say that the Americans are the bad guys, but corporate America and the things that corporate America does to these beautiful countries and beautiful parts of nature throughout the world, can be wildly destructive. So, to bring a legend of a god of nature to life […] you know, something that’s wrathful, stood out for me. And I didn’t know there was a mythological story here and that really intrigued me. I didn’t know what the oil rigs are doing out in those parts of the world. For me, it was a very eye-opening experience in that way.

The Black Demon, from The Avenue, hits theaters April 28.