One of the greatest gifts I receive as a Horror Movie Podcaster, critic of the films, and lover of the genre is that sometimes I stumble upon some really good movies hidden amongst the weeds.
Before setting off on this review of the Bloody Disgusting’s Top 15 of 2020 list, created by Meagan Navarro, I had never heard of the movie, Breaking Surface. I try to pay attention, as best I can, to ALL the movies that are coming out for the Horror genre, when it’s being released, and where I will be able to watch it.
Somehow, I missed Breaking Surface. But, thanks to this list by Meagan, I have now heard of it, seen it, and can now relay the information to you, Bloody Reel followers! I love this job!
Breaking Surface was a surprisingly good, intense, survival thriller. Nothing that will blow away the field in this sub-genre by any means, but worth watching, nonetheless. It is a foreign flick so get your reading glasses prepped.
The movie follows a pair of sisters from Sweden, one older, Ida (played by Moa Gammel), and one younger, Tuva (played by Madeleine Martin). Both were raised near the waters of Sweden and trained by their mother to swim and dive in said waters. A tragic diving accident occurs as the girls are younger, where Tuva nearly dies. Their mom blames Ida, which causes Ida to drift apart from the family as they grow older. This rift from her sister and mother leads to the issues that arise later in the story as Ida faces intense stressful event after event. Ida did not continue as far with her diving experience as her sister, Tuva, did. Whereas Tuva’s career leads to her becoming a professional diver. The difference in experience becomes the driving point of the strenuous scenes in Breaking Surface.
Years later, during a Christmas visit to mother’s house, Ida, Tuva, and mom plan to set out for a family winter diving trip. Mother gets too sick to go, leaving her two daughters to handle the diving voyage sans mom. The dive site is apparently the location Tuva and their mother frequented often as she was growing up, and when you see the destination, it makes sense why.
This is where Breaking Surface’s true strength really shines through. The movie was filmed in the breathtaking back drop of the Lofoton Islands in Norway, which is just magnificent and altogether alluring. On top of the scenery of the environment above water, all of the underwater cinematography was extremely well done for a low budget indie film.
This wouldn’t be a Survival Thriller movie if something didn’t go terribly wrong during the dive expedition. Tuva, the more experienced diver of the two, becomes trapped underneath a large boulder that falls unsuspectingly from above. It is left to Ida to free her sister by facing terrific event after terrific event.
What could go wrong absolutely goes wrong in this movie.
I am not knowledgeable in the ways of deep-sea diving, or any diving for that matter, I’m quite the Mainlander and really prefer rocks! I felt as though a lot of what happened in the movie is pretty unrealistic as unfortunate challenges pile upon each other, one after the other. Reading a few reviews of Breaking Surface by supposed certified divers confirmed this assessment. However, there does seem to be a lot of knowledge behind the specific diving aspects involved here, so that did help bolster some realism to the movie. Some of the decisions made throughout the film by our main character, Ida, are pretty questionable decisions. Some would say really bad. Perhaps really DUMB decisions.
One thing to note, they were two Swedish speaking women traveling to Norway. So, perhaps this led to one of the movie’s biggest gripes. Ida couldn’t open the trunk to the car in which they traveled to the dive site. Seems like a simple thing to remedy. However, it wasn’t simple for Ida. Perhaps the problem could have been attributed to the language difference, also it wasn’t her car so she was unfamiliar with it, perhaps the stress of her sister’s life solely lying on her shoulders could’ve helped create poor decision making. Who knows?!
With Breaking Surface, I think you will land in one of two places on how you felt about the movie. Either you’ll take in the amazing scenery, get sucked into the story, and just enjoy the thrill ride as Ida and Tuva fight to survive the situation that has befallen them. Or you will be highly annoyed by the choices Ida makes, and maybe the quantity of problems they have to face, as her sister Tuva is stuck underneath a massive rock over 100 feet below the surface of the water.
One of the reasons I love horror movies is because it takes me out of reality. I don’t usually sit there and think, “well that’s completely impossible, that wouldn’t happen in real life” and then get disgusted that the movie did something unrealistic. These movies are deemed as fictional for a reason, they are not real life.
Perhaps that’s how you have to watch Breaking Surface. Just for pure enjoyment and scenery. Not true-life realism.
I felt greatly claustrophobic at times through the struggles and situations these women faced that far deep underwater. And, being a survival thriller, Breaking Surface does a great job of raising the tension bar, and keeps you wondering how the story is going to end for the sisters. The acting was really good and, for a fairly newcomer in the Writer/Director seat, I was pleased with the experience that Joachim Hedén provided us.
Give Breaking Surface a shot if anything I laid before you grabbed your interest. If not for the story, for the views and camera work!
Pretty good thriller!
Breaking Surface
Released: 2020
Rating: NR
Director: Joachim Hedén (New York Waiting, Framily)
Writer: Joachim Hedén (New York Waiting, Framily)
Stars: Moa Gammel (Let the Right One In, Tommy), Madeline Martin (Easy Money II & III)
IMDB Rating: 6.1 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
Metascore: N/A
Rentable on these Apps as of this Blog posting: Prime Video, Fandango ($3.99) AppleTV, Google Play, YouTube TV ($6.99)
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