Alexandre Aja may be known for High Tension and his remakes of The Hills Have Eyes, Maniac and Piranha, but this man against nature movie may be my favorite film he’s done.

Produced by Sam Raimi, the film has a heart at the center of its story — what it’s like to grow up and perhaps move beyond the experience of your parents. Oh yeah — it also has a category five hurricane and numerous gigantic alligators that want to snack on human flesh.

University of Florida swimmer Haley Keller (Kaya Scodelario, the Maze Runner films) gets a call from her sister Beth, telling her to get out of the state of Florida before Hurricane Wendy descends. Haley is more worried about her father (Barry Pepper, The Green Mile), who isn’t answering his phone.

She goes through a police blockade to check on him, finding his dog Sugar but not him. Heading back their abandoned family home, she finds her father knocked out and his escape cut off by several gigantic alligators.

The rest of the film is pretty much a thrill ride — can Haley and her father escape the alligators and make it out of the storm? Will the dog survive? Can they swim fast enough?

I really wish that I had seen this in a theater instead of alone on my couch. This movie demands a sold out show of people screaming all around you at every single jump scare. It’s effective on your own, but it had to have been awesome with an audience.