"The Dive" finds underwater tension without sharks

The Dive (2023)

“47 Meters Down” without the sharks or “Fall” underwater, “The Dive” is a minimalist exercise in ticking-clock tension. Frankly, writer-director Max Erlenwein and co-writer Joachim Hedén (whose 2020 Swedish film "Breaking Surface" gets the English-language remake treatment here) don’t need any other treacherous threat besides the depths of the deep blue sea. Anyone who plans on scuba diving anytime soon should use this as a prerequisite and a warning. 

It’s the annual diving trip for sisters Drew (Sophie Lowe) and May (Louisa Krause). They park their car near the cliff of a mountain and climb down to a remote beach with tanks and scuba gear. Drew is excited to be on the trip, but she feels like May has been aloof lately. During their dive, there’s a landslide above, sending rocks into the water and trapping May from the waist down. Inside their integrated diving masks, May tells Drew what she needs to do and how much time they have left, but naturally, the odds are constantly stacked against them.

There is a clear logic to every decision Drew must make to save her sister. She can’t panic or her oxygen supply will quickly dwindle. She was planning on getting the extra tanks, the car keys, and her cell phone, but they are now trapped underneath a bunch of fallen rocks onshore. Without car keys, Drew is able to smash a window and get in to grab two other oxygen tanks. The trunk release button won’t open, however, to get the car jack to lift the rock that has May trapped. If Drew can’t use her phone to call anyone, is it worth trekking a mile to the nearest house? With all this swimming to the surface and back to the bottom, Drew also can’t risk getting nitrogen narcosis. Read the full review at GuyAtTheMovies.com

Grade: B

RLJE Films is releasing “The Dive” (91 min.) in select theaters on August 25, 2023.