Don’t Be Prey Review – Riveting, Ocean Swimming Endurance Documentary, A Must See
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Wednesday, 18 March 2026 15:24
- Written by Janet Walker
Don't Be Prey, from Munro Films and Kismet Movies, presents the story of ocean marathon swimmers, who are challenged to conquer the Ocean Seven, while controlling the mental anguish, physical agony, and avoiding the lurking apex predators.
The documentary begins on the Gold Coast of Australia, and we meet Mark Sowerby, who at one time had been a very successful Australian financial investor. We learn through his journey that his company was the target of a short sell strategy, and through this he ultimately lost everything, including his reputation, identity, and worse his will too live.
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He had been swimming, and before the crash he had signed up to swim the English Channel. After the crash, swimming became his therapy, and more, as someone goal oriented, each of these seemingly impossible tasks fed his mental state, and caused him to focus on the goal, to accomplish the goal.
As we learn, marathon ocean swimming is more than endurance, more than mental control, and physical strength, ocean swimming places the swimmer in the feeding ground of every sea creature who thrives in the vast oceans.
We also meet Oceans Seven founder Steven Munatones, who developed the idea of the Oceans Seven, and explains the idea was simply to design the most challenging ocean swimming and, like scaling the Seven Summits mountain climbing feat, build a competition around completing these seven straits.
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The Oceans Seven comprises the Molokaʻi Channel 28 miles between Moloka'i and O'ahu; the 21 mile English Channel, between England and France; the 32 miles Catalina Channel between Santa Catalina Island and Los Angeles; the 21.5 mile North Channel, between Northern Ireland and Scotland; the 14 mile Cook Strait, between New Zealand's North and South Islands; the 12 mile Tsugaru Strait, between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, and the 9 miles Strait of Gibraltar, between Spain and Morocco.
Add to the distance, the unknown as we discover when Turkish swimmer Bengisu Avci explains as she was swimming the Moloka'i Channel, everything was going well, she could see Oahu, when she felt what seemed like a string, and soon she was covered with jelly fish, and we see her body welted with venom from the jelly fish stings.
Every athlete needs a coach and for our marathon ocean water swimmers Tim Denyer is the best in the business. Denyer is so in demand that for the first year of coaching Sowerby, the coaching was virtual. With Sowerby in Australia, and Denyer living in England, he would send Sowerby a training schedule and to hear him explain, it is critical that the athlete follow his schedule in its exactness.
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After the English Channel, Sowerby explains it took him ten months to recover. In addition to predators, the swimmer risks hypothermia. Each swimmer has a full entourage who travels in a boat, and a kayaker who travels close to the swimmer for safety.
The Ocean Seven rules explain no wetsuit, no external protection, a simple bathing suit, swimming cap. Should sharks appear, the swimmer may climb into the coaching boat for ten minutes and then make the decision to return to the water or not.
The Moloak'I channel was the second swim for Sowerby, and we see him struggling, and everyone, including his wife, Heidi, explains, it wouldn't matter he would push through it. His kayaker explained he was stung but continued.
We can all be Prey. It is our response that defines us.We also learn real life truths, from someone who admits he needed swimming to pivot his thinking, to stop the creepy and controlling suicidal ideation from becoming reality.
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Over the course of a decade, Sowerby attempts the Oceans Seven, a grueling odyssey through cold, darkness, and apex predators. By his final crossing, we understand his journey transcends more than physical endurance, evolving into a profound reclamation of self, achieved only by surrendering control to a team he learns to trust implicitly.
Don't Be Prey, is more than a documentary on endurance, mental conquest, and the cost of excellence, it is a life philosophy, and while the swimmers explain, don't be prey, don't slap your hands on the ocean surface, as it attracts sharks, we can all be prey. It is our response that defines us.
"Throughout the filming process, I continually reminded myself not to turn the protagonist into a hero. While the ocean pushes the body to its physical limits, the real struggle never takes place in the water; it unfolds internally. Mark is not a conventional heroic figure. His strength does not come from talent, but from his ability to remain present with pain rather than escape it. I did not shy away from his flaws: his need for control, emotional distance, and near-obsessive determination are integral to the narrative because they form the internal barriers he must confront. His transformation is not about becoming stronger, but about shifting from control to trust — trust in the process, trust in others, and trust in uncertainty itself," stated Director Jeff Tseng.
A fascinating and mesmerizing documentary Don't Be Prey arrives exclusively in UK cinemas, March 20, 2026 and will open in Ireland, March 27, 2026, and in limited release in Australia beginning May 7, 2026.
Don't Be Prey, a must see story of confronting the unknown and fighting to regain our lives, our true selves.
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Country: U.K.
Language: English.
Runtime: 91 minutes.
Release date: March 20, 2026.
Director: Jeff Tseng.
Producer: Caitlin Johnston, Jeff Tseng..
Executive Producer: Lucas Thyer.
Writer: Steven Sander, Jeff Tseng.
Featuring: Mark Sowerby, Tim Denyer, Steven Munatones, Heidi Sowerby, Bengisu Avci, Jamie Mackay, Paul Leonard, Joanne Norman.
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
