Is The Devil’s Mouth Real? Everything We Know About Prime’s Shak Thriller

The Devil’s Mouth is Prime Video’s latest spooky addition to its iconic roster, and while cave-diving with an aggressive shark is the last thing I would add to my already adventurous bucket list, here’s whether or not that horrific place is real.

What is The Devil’s Mouth about?

Combining claustrophobia (fear of confined or enclosed spaces) with galeophobia (fear of sharks) and thalassophobia (fear of being in deep water), The Devil’s Mouth follows a bunch of college teens as they embark on a treacherous expedition through a remote cave system known as The Devil’s Mouth in Thailand.

While swimming through a dark cave is enough to give you the heebie-jeebies, sh*t hits the fan once a deadly, terrifying creature begins to hunt our protagonists.

Alongside its spook-factor — and the fact that it stars scream queen Kathryn Newton, To All The Boys I Loved Before‘s Lana Condor and The Summer I Turned Pretty‘s Gavin Casalegno — it’s worth highlighting the natural beauty of Thailand.

From the blue water to the natural cave formations, it’s all so inviting — despite the sharks, obvs.

But hey, if you’re fanging for some moist, dark caves with the possibility of becoming shark bait (ooh ha ha), OR you’re just morbidly curious if a place like The Devil’s Mouth is real, here’s what we know.

Is The Devil’s Mouth a real place?

Long story short: no. However, director Jeff Wadlow confirmed to PEDESTRIAN.TV that some parts of the movie were filmed in real Thai caves while other parts were on sound sets.

“The caves are real. We shot in real caves. There — in fact, one of the caves is famous for being the place where rescue divers go to train,” Wadlow shared.

“We were really in Thailand, we were really on the open ocean, we were really in caves. Even when we were on sound stages, and you see Kathryn swimming underwater, that is Kathryn swimming underwater! You know, we made the cave, but it’s still a cave. So, I mean, a lot of this was real, and the actors were down for it.”

In more specifics, according to Time Out, the shark thriller was filmed across Krabi province, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

Do sharks swim in caves in Thailand like The Devil’s Mouth?

There’s no doubt that Thailand is home to an extensive amount of marine life. Like, honestly, if I were a fish, I would be heading straight for the Phi Phi Islands.

But if you’re scared of running into an aggressive bull shark while cave swimming, you’ll be pleased to know that they won’t be in there.

According to a 2018 report titled Country report of Sharks and Rays in Thailand by Krajangdara T. and Vibunpant S, there are 76 species of shark in Thailand.

And while bull sharks are on the list, sightings are extremely rare. Sea Bees Diving reports that the only sharks you can spot in caves are nurse sharks, which are docile and not aggressive.

At the end of the day, there’s always going to be risks when swimming in the ocean, and as a baby free diver, I always remind myself that we as humans are merely guests in these creatures’ habitats, so we must treat them with the utmost respect.

But if there are cave sharks, best believe I’m going to give that a pass. Even if it’s just a cute nurse shark.

The Devil’s Mouth drops on Prime Video July 29.