Don't Be Prey

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https://www.kismetmovies.com/releases/dont-be-prey

Date Reviewed: 29/04/2026

The Seven Summits has long been a target for keen mountaineers to complete. Here, climbers would attempt to climb to the highest mountains in the seven continents, including Everest, Kilimanjaro, and Kosciuszko. As more people completed the task over the years, techniques and strategy refined, making the once-monumental task, a realistic goal for climbers. While becoming a lucrative business for companies to guide climbers through the challenge; the bigger benefit was the exposure it gave to mountaineering and recognition of its participants. Identifying this, marathon swimmer Steven Munatones, created the Oceans Seven. This was open water swimming’s equivalent to the Seven Summits, basically "daring" participants to take on the challenge of crossing seven of the world’s great waterways.

These waterways pose various challenges – extreme distances, rough seas, strong currents, freezing temperatures, and dangerous wildlife; all fluctuating in severity depending on which of the seven channels you are tackling. In addition to the core rules of the challenge – no touching of guide boats including during drink/feed breaks, no assistance by getting in a boat’s slipstream, no wet suits, and no shark cages. Hell, the movie claims there’s a 10 min time limit for a swimmer to decide whether they want to get back into the water after a shark sighting!

For me, completing the Oceans Seven challenge is only slightly less desirable than getting a backyard vasectomy, with a rusty set of hedge trimmers, during a hurricane, from a solo-operating Stevie Wonder. But the desire to complete a seemingly impossible task, that requires detailed planning, problem-solving, and extreme physical exertion; is something I can understand. And embarking on a huge challenge to increase your feeling of self-worth, and setting yourself a goal as a way to channel your energy, rather than letting your mind stay in a dark place; is unfortunately something that too many people need, to get by.

And that brings us to this documentary’s protagonist, Mark Sowerby. After some strategic plays by people in the finance world do significant damage to Sowerby’s bank account, reputation, and image; the retired Sowerby is left in a bad place mentally, apparently considering the darkest of all solutions. Having already completed a swim of the English Channel when he was making millions and on top of the world, his swimming coach suggests targeting the remaining swims in the Oceans Seven as a way to get him into a better place, mentally and physically. And thus begins a decade-long quest to complete the gruelling task.

With Sowerby’s self-assessment of his professional behaviour being low, and the fact that he had effectively retired and purchased a 9-million-dollar home by the time he is in his early 40s; Sowerby is not the most sympathetic character to the average viewer. But he is somehow genuine and likable enough that you are willing to go along for the ride with him and hope he succeeds. This is a credit to director Jeff Tseng’s movie structure and his choices of how much of Sowerby’s life becomes a focus of the film.

There is enough backstory of the relevant characters involved, and the history of the Oceans Seven. The pacing of Sowerby’s progress through the swims is also effective. The only issue with the film, is the same risk that all documentaries face – how can you ensure that the movie’s climax delivers on the promise of the set-up, when you are not in control of how the movie will end?  And it’s here, where the movie is a slight letdown. There is focus on the potential drama that Sowerby and the other swimmers featured, will face on the different swims. But they do not all surface (pun intended), and some of ones that do, only come up for air briefly (yep, another one!).

Overall, Don't Be Prey an exciting and entertaining watch. But if you were writing the story yourself, you’d have some additional things occur that weren’t part of the real story, rather than them just being a tease.

Reviewed by Dion Gaunt