This is a powerful documentary about extreme sport Freediving, and the athletes who risk their lives to probe the abyss of the ocean ("the last quiet place on earth") as well as the deepest terrain of their souls and physical capabilities, alone and powered by only a single breath. This is a real-life thriller/love story/sports documentary/psychological study, and I encourage you to go in cold without doing any research about the fates of the people involved. What motivates these athletes to risk their lives to be utterly alone and unreachable in dark, dangerous, uncharted territory where they cannot be rescued, and then also risk deeply loving another who shares this need for life-threatening, extreme isolation and self-reliance? And the greatest irony of all is that the unexpected love story at the center of this film may end up being more dangerous than the sport itself. For me, this documentary is the most powerful, haunting, beautiful, and thought-provoking movie (in any genre) this year.
Review of The Deepest Breath
