Sumith Prasad
Adrian Grünberg’s shark thriller film ‘The Black Demon’ revolves around Paul Sturges, a security inspector who arrives in an oil rig located off the coast of Baja to decommission the same. Upon his arrival, Paul learns that life in the rig is endangered by the presence and wrath of a killer megalodon shark, which is locally known as the Black Demon. When a predicament leads his family to the rig, Paul realizes that he needs to put his life on the line to save his loved ones. Naturally, the viewers must be wondering whether he survives his deadly battle against the Black Demon. Well, let us provide the answer! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Paul Sturges Dies During the Bomb Explosion
Yes, Paul Sturges dies in ‘The Black Demon.’ Paul arrives at his company Nixon Oil’s crumbling oil rig, named El Diamante, to decommission the same. The rig has been spilling oil for a while, which raised severe security concerns. Paul’s routine assignment becomes a battle for life when he realizes that a megalodon shark lives around the rig, killing people who have been traveling in boats in and around the region. While Paul processes the unbelievable truth about the Black Demon, his wife Ines and their two children, Audrey and Tommy, end up at the rig without knowing about the shark’s existence.
When his family gets trapped in the oil rig, Paul realizes that he has to kill the shark to save them. As a dutiful husband and loving father, he assumes the responsibility of resolving the predicament by himself. However, before he puts his life on the line, Paul seeks the help of Chato and Junior, the only surviving employees working at the oil rig. They dive underwater for inspection, only for Paul to come across a bomb tied to the rig. He realizes that his company sent him to El Diamante upon knowing that he will be killed.
In the past, when the company established the oil rig off the coast of Baja, Paul conducted an inspection and made it clear to his superiors that the same could not function due to safety concerns. His superiors, however, forced him to approve the operation of the rig upon threatening him to replace him. Since he had a family to take care of, Paul followed the instructions of his superiors and his actions paved the way for the deaths that happened in the rig. Now that his company is trying to bury the project along with him, Paul feels responsible and sets out to seek redemption by killing the shark.
When Junior becomes the victim of the Black Demon, Paul realizes that he cannot deal with another death in his conscience. Thus, he sends his family and Chato to the mainland after telling them that he will follow them upon killing the Black Demon. Paul plans to untie the bomb and feed it to the shark, hoping that the explosion will kill the sea monster. After Chato and his family depart from the rig, he dives into the depths of the Sea of Cortez and unties the bomb. But rather than feeding the bomb to the shark directly, Paul decides to tie the bomb to him and let the shark eat him.
Paul realizes that he only has one shot to kill the shark and end the misfortune of the townsfolk. If he cannot successfully feed the bomb to the shark, it may continue to kill innocent lives and he may end up behind bars for approving an unsafe oil rig. Paul may not want such a turn of events to happen, which motivates him to sacrifice himself to ensure the death of the shark. After Paul ties the bomb to his waist, the Black Demon swallows him. The bomb then explodes, killing both Paul and the shark.
Read More: Is The Black Demon Based on a True Story? Was the Megalodon Real?
