Estranged sisters seeking to revive their relationship pass through a catastrophic accident that happens while exploring an underwater cave. The Dive is a harrowing, real-time thriller that ensures this writer will never don scuba gear. Tense action scenes are contrasted with regret, memory remorse and imaginative recollections of the what-ifs. This situation unveils how much love they have for each other that they had never envisaged. The melodrama gets thick but the life or death scenario leaves you gasping for air till the credits.
They drive in silence near a secluded oceanic precipice. They stumble through conversation in an awkward attempt to catch up. May hadn’t realized Drew could not find employment and returned home to their mother’s place. The pair have not seen each other since their last annual trip together. Drew asks if May even likes her unique outings? She answers half-heartedly before quickly deflecting.
The sisters pick up heavy equipment and walk down a rocky path towards the violent sea. Everything is carefully checked by May, who has more experience than Drew does. They also have face masks fitted with communication sets that will allow them talk under water. We should keep safety line and flashlights as well”, May added packing those too.” They descend into the inky blue water looking for the cave entrance.” Down cracks in rocks leading into small recesses allowing enough space for them to raise their heads”. May releases oxygen from her tank filling the chamber with air.
Once again, Drew wants to know whether everything is fine between her sister and herself Are these trips worth it anyway? For another time, may gives her cold response.” As they silently explore inside cave again.” At some point, rock slides down from above on broken rocks .Drew grips against one wall but May gets hit losing her balance further below . A desperate Drew screams into the intercom asking about her sister.”No reply!” She can’t see May’s light.
Drew dives through a cloud of silt passing fallen rocks. She hears a faint murmur through static. Drew plows on until May comes in clearer.”May waves her flashlight to get Drew’s attention.”Her leg is pinned underneath an enormous boulder.”May has only got 25 minutes left with oxygen.” Drew starts to panic. May tells her to calm down, stay composed, and set her timer.”Drew must race up for the back-up tanks, and call for help” “There’s a tire jack in the trunk .Maybe that can lift the rock”. All this takes time which she doesn’t have since she also has to deal with decompression sickness upon rapid ascent”. Nitrogen bubbles in her blood can be fatal”.
Everything that could go wrong does. She is also unable to open the car trunk where the jack is kept so she retrieves Jack or gets more air to call for help. With an onscreen timer ominously counting down, she wonders what the hell should I do?” Meanwhile as she contemplates their past, May counts her breaths carefully.. The movie flashes back to when they were little girls practicing with their father—this is another reoccurring theme with March becoming increasingly affected by nitrogen narcosis . In particular hallucinations begin and regrets about one word answers come back frequently.
Drew keeps going back and forth underwater in order to save her sister. Every step makes it take longer, use more air, and put May in greater danger. Drew also suffers through the painful and debilitating bends. Periodically begging for time to become accustomed to the changing pressure, May pleads with her sister Drew who refuses because valuable seconds count. The emotional distance between them begins to disappear as May’s death becomes inevitable. They are both consumed by guilt over having allowed petty grievances and long-standing animosities come between them.
The shoot of the diving scenes is very well done by German writer/director Maximilian Erlenwein (Skylines, Stereo) And its filming of the underwater action is superbly done by him. Her expertise in diving as well as scuba has never confused viewers so far.Everything you need to know about any gadget including its significance is succinctly stated in their conversation. You are provided with just enough information required to understand what is necessary.Erlenwein captures the claustrophobic hysteria of being alone and stuck in pitch black darkness.Mays dwindling flashlight is akin to hope dissipating . Furthermore , good c amera work and editing p rovides a complete 360 degree environment., which makes this movie look quite realistic.
The resemblance of hope fading away can be seen when looking at Mays dwindling flashlight.Photography wise sound editing helps us see that it was all happening around them at once.True-to-life background: The application of shooting,and costumes helps the camera present good quality picture even without using special effects like image manipulation or animation.
By doing so,the flashback scenes became distracting later on.The film cuts away from the main story at inappropriate times thereby detracting attention from human bond between the two sisters.However, one specific such instance happens near an anticlimactic moment when something big may not necessarily happen.Notably,Erlenwein desires a poetic touch into the narrative, artistically that’s right, but it has over stretched itself here.
Overall, The Dive is a lean thriller that is well-acted. Fight scenes between sisters are realistic from Lowe and Krause who play them. It reminds us that when it comes to the people we love most, we should never let them off the hook for saying things out of anger. Sometimes, you may not get another chance to tell your feelings and have closure.
The movie was produced by Falkun Films, Logical Pictures , MFG Film as well as Protagonist Pictures. RLJE Films currently has it in limited release in theaters and on demand services.
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