December 31, 2009: Open Water
I saw Open Water in the theatre, which puts me in quite the exclusive club. Was it necessary to see it there? Possibly not, but it generated a fair bit of critical buzz at the time and as an enthusiastic sometime scuba diver, I was interested. This is a simple and straightforward film, shot in pseudo-documentary style, about a couple on a diving retreat weekend who, through a snafu on the dive boat, end up being abandoned out in the ocean.
I was impressed by the realism of the dive boat sequences, particularly the crew and the passengers and the prep details as everyone readies their equipment for the dive. It is very much representative of the experience, with most people being helpful and friendly and emphasizing safety above all else, but with the occasional belligerent customer or apathetic employee. Once abandoned, the main characters go through escalating stages of panic and fear as they become hungry and tired, and second-guess themselves and what they might have done wrong, although the mistake was actually on the part of the dive boat operators. This emotional arc is entirely believable, since we live in such a well-controlled little world so much of the time that it’s a rude shock to realize just how helpless we are when the system breaks down.
Open Water has definite low-budget production values, but that helps with this chosen style of gritty realism. It is fairly short, no longer than it needs to be, which is refreshing. If you’re not a diver, this movie obviously will not make you like the idea, and if you are a diver, you may pick apart the events as unlikely but would have to admit that it’s a realistic portrayal of plausible events.
Compelling presentation of a scary situation.
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