As unhelpful as “it’s a [insert genre here] movie that even people who hate [insert genre here] like” is as a critical observation, I do like being able to see and even recommend films that fall into areas that are… outside of my expertise, let’s say. I may frequently rail against bad talking animal movies, and be generally ambivalent towards Westerns, but that just makes my encountering examples I actually like feel just that much better; it's like biting into a BeanBoozled and getting a normal flavour. And here, we have a survival film that had me properly invested from end to end.
Set primarily underwater, with divers Drew (Sophie Lowe) and May (Louisa Krause) finding themselves in a high-stress scenario when May becomes trapped under a rock, the pacing for this is ideal as a film that floats around the 90-minute mark. Drew as the more active of the two gets put through the physical exertion, repeatedly diving and resurfacing to find oxygen tanks and means to lift the rock, dealing with decompression sickness along the way. Whereas May gets the more psychological stresses, showing 47 Meters Down how to really make dramatic use of nitrogen narcosis while trying to keep her heartrate (and breathing) down.
The mechanics of the narrative work well, keeping things moving as Drew basically goes on a prolonged scavenger hunt for ways to 1) free May, and 2) keep the both of them alive during the attempt. However, when it comes to characterisation, this is a bit flat. I specify that it’s only a bit because, through the extensive flashbacks and trippy visuals, we still manage to get a decent idea of what makes these two tick. With Drew, it’s a desperation to make it all work knowing that she’s the one who got them both into this situation, and with May, it’s a simmering resentment towards Drew for events that much happened much earlier than deciding to go diving.
There’s also the atmosphere of the presentation as well. Along with making good use of hallucinogenic imagery later on, DP Frank Griebe (who also worked on Cloud Atlas) photographs the vastness of the ocean in a way that captures both the soothing calm that would make someone want to dive into it, along with the isolating void that contrastingly makes that proposition so daunting. It plays with the dimensions of the location much like a deep space thriller would, emphasising how anathema the natural conditions of the place are to what human beings need to survive, along with a similar weightless, floating sensation just from looking at it.
It's fairly straightforward as a film, focusing primarily on in-the-moment anxiety and wielding its production values to put the audience squarely within that moment. As a 127 Hours-esque survival thriller, it works quite well, and it makes better use of its core concept than I’ve seen in other films I’ve reviewed.
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