The Dive
Two sisters encounter an underwater peril in an English-language remake of Norway’s Breaking Surface.
Water course: Louisa Krause
Most of us take for granted the air that we breathe. Yet it really is a precious commodity, particularly when the rest of your life relies on the contents of a single oxygen tank…
In the tradition of such films as Jaume Collet-Serra’s skilful and terrifying The Shallows (2016) and Alexandre Aja’s gripping and inventive Oxygen (2021), the drama here rests solely on the shoulders of a single actress, or in this case two. They are the Australian Sophie Lowe and the American Louisa Krause (Dark Waters), who play sisters, Drew and May. It’s a hard act to pull off, to populate a thriller with just one or two performers, and while The Dive gathers intensity as it goes along, it barely reaches the heights (or depths) of the aforementioned modern classics of suspense.
The characters of Drew and May are sketchy to say the least, sisters who seem to share some kind of grudge but who are nevertheless on a day out together. Experienced divers, they find a remote spot and head for an underwater cave, to marvel at a world little-seen by the outside world. In spite of their sibling connection, there is a pronounced division, not least May’s love for The Platters’ ‘Only You’, which becomes a kind of musical motif (The Hollies’ ‘The Air That I Breathe’ might have been more germane). But, as in such underwater thrillers, something goes terribly wrong and the sisters’ bond is tested to the limit, as is their ingenuity.
Krause’s May is by far the more interesting character and it’s hard to believe that her sister could prove to be so clueless. So, as one fights for her life, the other flounders around like an electrified porpoise. Yet in spite of such chasms of credibility – we have to take it on trust that Drew and May really are sisters – the claustrophobia of the set-up does build some momentum. Frank Griebe’s cinematography nicely sets the scene (the film was shot in Malta) while Volker Bertelmann and Raffael Seyfried’s idiosyncratic score doesn’t push its luck. For those not already panicked by claustrophobia, there is enough here to keep one genuinely disconcerted.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Sophie Lowe, Louisa Krause, David Scicluna.
Dir Maximilian Erlenwein, Pro Jonas Katzenstein and Maximilian Leo, Screenplay Maximilian Erlenwein and Joachim Hedén, based on a screenplay by Joachim Hedén, Ph Frank Griebe, Pro Des Benedikt Herforth, Ed Philipp Thomas, Music Volker Bertelmann and Raffael Seyfried, Costumes Maren Esdar, Sound Ole Ohlendorf and Frederik Thomsen.
Augenschein Film/Falkun Films/Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen/Logical Content Ventures/Protagonist Pictures-Vertigo Releasing.
91 mins. Germany. 2022. UK and US Rel: 25 August 2023. Cert. 15.
