The Dive

September 8th, 2023

MOVIE: THE DIVE

STARRING: SOPHIE LOWE, LOUISA KRAUSE

DIRECTED BY: MAXIMILIAN ERLENWEIN

AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)

In the subgenre of films that involve humans stuck in terrifying circumstances, for most viewers, the easy response is that they shouldn’t have been there in the first place. The Dive is the most recent version of that story, about two sisters, trying to get away from the hustle of life and decide to go for a dive in a remote area. Keywords: remote area. What follows is the sisters fighting for their lives. Stuck in a desperate situation, over twenty-eight meters below the surface, with depleting oxygen. The result is exactly as it sounds. It’s a story of survival, failing to do much of anything new or make it worth taking a dip at all.

It’s a two-hander and a relatively simple plot. Drew (Sophie Lowe) is driving the winding road on the coast of Malta, with sister May (Louisa Krause) riding shotgun, and the conversation revolves around family. There are flashbacks of moments as kids and discussions about the gear they have brought for the adventure. They park the car, and walk down a steep cliffside, with their tanks and wetsuits in hand. They get in the water and enjoy their leisure swim. It’s not too long before rocks tumble from the cliff, with a boulder crushing May’s leg, leaving her stuck, and Drew rushing to find any kind of way to save her.

As far as the problems with The Dive, they pile up relatively quickly, both narratively and visually. Unlike a movie such as 47 Meters Down, the major issue becomes the underwater sequences. Although it can be a part of capturing an authentic setting, it becomes relatively impossible to see anything, with the cinematography constantly blurred and dark. On top of the visual struggles, The Dive is lacking in making it a more complex story. The direction from Maximilian Erlenwein- who also co-wrote the screenplay with Joachim Hedén- fails to go beyond the surface. It becomes the kind of survival narrative where you hope a shark might come along to add to the party. Sadly that’s not this movie.

It may be unfair to judge The Dive for what it isn’t in comparison to other films, but unlike last year’s surprise thriller Fall– where two women are trapped on a tall cellphone tower– at least that was an achievement in CGI and genuine terror. In this instance, the fear fails to come close to the sweat-inducing thrills that one hopes to reach. If there are positives to hand out it’s that the two leads are both physically into the roles, clearly swimming through the falling rocks, and Erlenwein also captures beautiful crisp images of the cliffs as well. Soon the sun begins to sink and the oxygen starts to drift, it only becomes a matter of how The Dive will play out, and that result leaves much to be wanted.

There is a sliver of an idea in The Dive. It hopes to make the only enemy be fleeting oxygen and with that approach, then all you get is disappointment. A trapped underwater thriller can hook us in, but a storyteller needs to give us more than just that. The Dive is too standard and equally mundane to the point where losing interest is where you end up. Besides, it really is silly to put yourself in that kind of situation, or maybe next time, just go dive where the people are. It’s smarter, not harder.

THE DIVE IS CURRENTLY PLAYING IN SELECT THEATERS AND AVAILABLE TO RENT ON ALL ON-DEMAND PLATFORMS.

2 STARS

Written by: Leo Brady
leo@amovieguy.com