‘The Dive’ (2023) Review – Survival Thriller Floats Just Above The Water

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

The oceanic survival thriller is dishearteningly difficult to pull off. Recent efforts, such as Underwater (2019) and the 47 Meters duology have, in spite of some dedicated fans, widely been seen as misses. Where The Dive differs is in its structure; flashbacks and mental visions shape the story in swoops as two sisters fight for each other’s survival, putting aside their questions and reservations for one another for the time being in favor of living to ask them another day.

The sinister familial undertones beg for a further look, but the flashbacks keep them on a leash, suspending the tension below the surface. Those questions resurface once the film is over, and you’ll think about what it all means then, but during the moment, it’s all about air.

Take a deep breath; maybe hold it for a minute or two. The dual-leads (Louisa Krause & Sophia Lowe) can’t breathe around each-other as is, let alone at the bottom of the ocean. Their sisterhood relationship is skewered by misunderstandings and the unknown. The line between them is tangible, and each performance dances around it in expert fashion, relating it to the two characters.

Krause’s May is a reserved, separated individual. She longs for bonding but simply can’t get past her past. Lowe’s Drew is the opposite, swinging at the wall between her and her sister constantly, begging May to respond from the other side. Their dynamic is magnificently controlled, especially when the situation gets dire and their lives are on the line. 

Director Maximilian Erlenwein utilizes the vastness of the underwater space at hand in reverse; it feels so crushing and hopeless. Our characters are always center focus, but even when the camera is close, the scale and weight of their circumstance is immense. Erlenwein is a patient filmmaking mind with an understanding for his environment. He also had a hand in the script, along with writer Joachim Hedén, which is unfortunately where most of The Dive’s problems arise.

Regardless of how effective the tense sequences are, the threads between them and the prior serenity are shockingly thin. Contrivances force problematic situations and strain our characters to the max; their constant unluckiness strips the film of its intended grounded feel. 

Even worse, the ending turns this tendency on its head, and flips from bad luck and loss to insane luck and triumph. Of course, you pull for these characters, and their arcs are well written and paced throughout. Still though, the inconsistencies in realism with a concept that demands it (and therefore its consequences) implode the immersion. What results is a bittersweet feeling over the credits; not because the ending isn’t satisfying, but because the satisfaction doesn’t feel earned.

That’s the issue with many of these subsurface thrillers, including the two already listed. It’s a plus to use the vastness of the ocean visually, and that may be why this setting is consistently chosen for films of this ilk. But in the same waters lies a circumstantial issue; with so much room around the characters and the key to safety being visible above at all times, they almost always end up stuck in one way or another.

So these films are forced into the same repetitive reasoning for their conflicts, and even if the resolutions are unique, the journeys to them rarely manage the same feeling. The Dive is no different in the end, despite a strong effort in just about every other category.

Regardless, it earns its stake in a genre that will gladly take “good enough”. Thriller enthusiasts will have a fun with The Dive, and there’s plenty of adrenaline to spare for those with a simple passing interest, too. This year, and especially with this type of movie, you can do a whole lot worse than this underwater rollercoaster of kinetic emotion and ever-present pressure.

The Dive will debut in theaters on August 25, 2023 courtesy of RLJE Films. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw3Yr54jCsg]