A remake of the 2020 Swedish film “Breaking Surface,” the German-produced action thriller “The Dive” is one of the rarest of beasts: It’s just as good, if not better than what inspired and preceded it.
Co-written by “Breaking Surface” filmmaker Joachim Hedén and director Maximilian Erlenwein (making his English-language feature debut), “The Dive” shares a great deal of thematic and stylistic ground with the fact-based “127 Hours” and the shark thriller “47 Meters Down.” All three movies have been (correctly) tagged as “survival” dramas, and time is a key factor in all of them.
We find out more during the opening title sequence here than in the entire first act of most films, but not because the writers are telling us too much too soon. The point of view goes back and forth from the inside of a car to sprawling aerials following the car down a sandy road hugging a seaside cliff. It is indicative of everything that will follow; images will be either claustrophobic or wide open. There are very few medium-range images to be found here.
Estranged Sisters
Inside the car are sisters Drew (Sophie Lowe) and May (Louisa Krause), and within a minute it’s obvious that they’re not emotionally close. In fact, they are quasi-estranged, meeting only once a year to scuba. These trips are always arranged by the jovial and perky Drew, with the stoic and imperturbable May going along only because it offers her a break from a monotonous and demanding job working on an oil rig.
The reasons for the rift between Drew and May are never fully explained, which is good, but we are given hints via several blink-and-you’ll-miss-them flashbacks (and maybe a few hallucinations) experienced by May. In these passages, preteens May and Drew, portrayed respectively by Shire Richardson and Stella Uhrig, are in shallow beachside waters alongside their unnamed father (David Scicluna).
Like Topaz
Filmed but not specifically set on the island nation of Malta, the visuals are stunning and, again, there’s great contrast. The dry land is desert, and the azure blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea are piercing and clear and as flawless as topaz.Both women are seasoned divers, yet May appears to have the most state-of-the-art equipment. An example of this is the intercom masks, which will allow them through-water radio contact when underwater, rather than the standard scuba hand signals. The through-water radio factor ends up being both a blessing and a curse.
It is evident that Mr. Erlenwein and Mr. Hedén did their scuba-based homework, which not only prepares the uninitiated but also will impress seasoned divers and thus convince them of the content’s authenticity.
After submerging, the sisters make a brief pit stop in an underwater cave and then return to the open waters. Not long after, they are caught in the middle of a shower of rocks pushed into the sea by a massive aboveground landslide.
Solely because of their respective locations, Drew is able to escape relatively unscathed, but May’s legs become pinned under a sizeable boulder, which can’t be moved with their collective muscle. Calm as she can be, May instructs Drew to go to the surface and fetch the jack from their rental car and return before her 20 minutes of air is depleted.
At this point, only 23 minutes of the 91-minute run time have passed and this is where I will stop revealing plot details.
Roadblocks and Obstacles
The filmmakers include a number of frustrating roadblocks for Drew and stop just short of them becoming overcooked. Every obstacle presented is plausible, and Drew’s increasing frustration is thoroughly absorbed by the viewer.
While watching the movie, I actually started talking back to the screen, clenching my fists, and sitting on the edge of my seat. I can’t remember a time when I was more emotionally invested in the outcome of fictional movie characters than I was while viewing “The Dive.”
The fact that the filmmakers were able to so successfully suspend the disbelief of an admitted, somewhat jaded, seen-it-all movie critic speaks volumes to their crack collective storytelling acumen.
The movie opened on the 25th both in theaters and on multiple streaming platforms, but if it’s playing anywhere near you (check fandango.com for particulars), I highly recommend seeing it on the biggest screen possible.
