‘No air. No time. No hope.’
The Dive is a 2023 German suspense thriller in which two sisters go diving at a beautiful, remote location. One of the sisters is struck by a rock, leaving her trapped 28 meters below. With dangerously low levels of oxygen and cold temperatures, it is up to her sister to fight for her life. The movie is based on the 2020 Norwegian/Swedish thriller Breaking Surface.
Directed by Maximilian Erlenwein from a screenplay co-written with Joachim Hedén. The movie stars Louisa Krause and Sophie Lowe.
Plot:
A deep-sea diving trip at one of the world’s most remote spots becomes a fight for survival for sisters Drew and May when a catastrophic landslide sends rocks tumbling into the sea. After being struck by the rockfall, May now lies deep below the surface, trapped by debris and unable to move.
With dangerously low levels of oxygen, it is up to Drew to fight for her sister’s life. She must put her own life in jeopardy and risk paying the ultimate sacrifice. With no help in sight, time is quickly running out…
Release:
In the US, The Dive is available on Digital from Amazon Prime and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on October 17, 2023.
Reviews:
“Krause and Lowe do the best they can with shallow roles, and the movie is certainly well photographed. Not once does it feel like the actresses are swimming around in a giant tank. You get a sense of the darkness underwater, as well as the ease of becoming disoriented. The Dive is nevertheless a picture that doesn’t do the work of putting viewers where they need to be.” 2 out of 4, The Aisle Seat
“While there are plenty of genuinely tense moments that had me holding my breath on the edge of my seat, what let this movie down was the dialogue and the characters. The tension isn’t maintained well, constantly broken up with repeated flashbacks of the sisters as young girls, glimpses of them having fun in the water or being pushed a little too hard by their father as he shows them how to dive or hold their breath.” CineChat
“It’s bad luck rather than anything supernatural or forced that leads Drew to be faced with a series of incredibly difficult dilemmas, which makes her choices all the more gripping. The genuine necessity of pausing while surfacing to avoid the bends also adds to the tension as she finds herself forced to make multiple trips. A backstory about the women’s childhood, seen in very brief flashbacks, is rather underwritten by comparison.” 4 out of 5, Eye for Film
“On the surface, there are some nail-biting scenes, particularly when Drew has two minutes to get the spare scuba tank down to May but spots a boat nearby. Should she waste precious seconds flagging it down? There are moments like this that are pumped up on cinematic adrenaline, but a faffy backstory drains the tension.” 3 out of 5, The Guardian
“Whilst The Dive will make anyone who’s scared of the ocean fear it even more, it’s all too predictable. What will happen is inevitable. Once you know the synopsis, you know the whole film. Sure, despite its formulaic storyline it does still have the power to provoke emotions, which is what filmmaking is all about.” Loud and Clear
“Personally, I could have done without the flashbacks to May’s fatherly trauma […] This is a tactile film, which mercilessly taps into primitive, immediate terrors. With its urgently convincing depiction of being trapped underwater and the submersive sensations it creates, The Dive has more than enough sunken treasures for horror fans.” 4 out of 5, The Movie Waffler
“Great underwater cinematography and two decent performances are the only elements that keep The Dive afloat. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to compensate for the screenplay’s shortcomings and lack of imagination […] The Dive is mildly suspenseful and well-shot, but also sappy, contrived and unimaginative while low on palpable thrills and scares.” The NYC Movie Guru
“Cinematographer Frank Griebe (Run Lola Run) mainly keeps close to the women underwater, trailing behind or shooting from high overhead on land […] Sisterly love proves stronger than physical setbacks, but again, Erlenwein packs a little too much drama into his closing moments. The Dive avoids schlocky underwater tactics, but could have used a little more air.” Grade: B- Reeling Reviews
YouTube reviews:
Trailer:
