James Cameron's subversive aquatic horror, The Abyss, is now streaming on Tubi

1989's The Abyss unfolds like a visually arresting fever dream

“It’s no secret that as an ocean explorer now, as an avid scuba diver for many years before that, and as a fan of ocean exploration when I was a kid, I’ve had this romance with the ocean my entire life,” James Cameron once told National Geographic while explaining the inspiration for Avatar: The Way of Water. The 2022 Avatar sequel isn’t the only Cameron film about water; Titanic makes effective use of the element, and Cameron also helmed an aquatic monster flick for his feature debut in Piranha II: The Spawning, whose production was infamously fraught. But the film that best exemplifies Cameron’s lifelong fascination with water is The Abyss, the 1989 science-fiction horror that breaks genre conventions in unexpected ways.

Cameron’s film is now streaming for free on Tubi, having landed on the platform this month. The Abyss is a riveting underwater adventure that is worth re-visiting, but this is also a great chance for first-time viewers to immerse themselves in this viscerally strange experience.

On release, The Abyss earned close to $90 million worldwide and enjoyed a positive critical reception, but this dimmed in comparison to the level of blockbuster success Cameron was associated with at the time (specifically in relation to Aliens and The Terminator). The film also had an extremely troubled production history: Cameron had two gigantic underwater tanks constructed, which would repeatedly rupture and add to the ever-ballooning budget and constant timeline setbacks.

But Cameron kept at it, displaying a unique technical mastery that would later come to define his Avatar films. Apart from being a technical triumph in terms of visual beauty and undersea technology in film, The Abyss anticipates the director’s stance on ecological conservation, where the way humans treat one another directly influences our relationship with the environment.

Cameron’s sci-fi epic opens in 1994, with the discovery of an unidentified object that sinks near the Cayman Trough. A SEAL team is dispatched to retrieve it in the midst of a roving hurricane, while they intend to set up base at the privately-owned underwater drilling platform named Deep Core. Dr. Lindsey Brigman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), who designed the platform, accompanies the team under some flimsy pretext, and we’re made aware of the fact that her estranged husband, Bud (Ed Harris), happens to be the foreman.

Things go haywire soon after: a submersible power cut reveals a cluster of non-terrestrial intelligence (dubbed NTI) underwater, a missile warhead is abruptly recovered, and a flooded rig kills several crew members and damages major power systems.

These events might have the markings of a conventional aquatic horror, but The Abyss subverts expectations by positioning the NTI as allies instead of hostile entities. Without venturing into spoiler territory, it’s safe to say that Cameron is more interested in examining the horror inherent in the futility of violence, which grants the film a realistic tint. While the NTI introduces an element of whimsy (portrayed as floating, translucent beings), The Abyss is a somber snapshot of atomic age paranoia and how it makes monsters out of us. The remnants of Cold War anxieties inform such a claustrophobic environment, where the only silver lining lies in embracing a humanistic outlook for survival.

There’s a love story brewing underneath the pertinent themes in The Abyss as well. Bud and Lindsey’s fraught relationship signifies the hope that Cameron injects within his core message, arguing it's possible to reconnect with an estranged loved one. The vast abyss that divides people might feel unfathomable at first, but a sincere attempt at connection might salvage humanity as a whole. It’s a touching message that lacks subtlety, but Cameron’s passionate commitment to these themes makes The Abyss an underwater descent that is well worth one’s time.

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The Abyss is now streaming on Tubi.