I LOVE underwater scenery, there’s something so majestic and haunting about the deep ocean. When I saw the trailer on Netflix, I knew I had to watch it. Irish filmmaker Laura McGann did a remarkable job capturing the death-defying sport of freediving, where divers rely on breath-holding until resurfacing without any breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. It’s truly a fascinating extreme sport where skilled divers constantly put themselves at risk every time they descend into the depths of the ocean. There’s virtually no escape if anything goes wrong, even the safety divers can’t descend as far down as the competing athletes. Yet I could see the inherent appeal of being ‘one with nature’ so to speak, as are free climbing.

What I didn’t realize was that it’s a love story between Italian free-diving champion Alessia Zecchini and an Irish safety diver Stephen Keenan. I’m glad I hadn’t read about their lives before watching the film so there’s that element of surprise. The film shows their respective journeys up until they met during a competition in Egypt. Alessia has been training since she was 13 and was inspired by Natalia Molchanova, legendary Russian champion in freediving, whose son’s life was saved by Stephen during a competition. Stephen himself had traveled all over the world before he made the sandy cove of Dahab his home.

The competitions are thrilling to watch, with the combination of talking heads including jurors, safety divers, and medical staff. The scenes are interwoven with interviews with Alessia’s and Stephen’s fathers who watch the sport via online streaming. This is truly one of the most riveting, intense, and emotional documentaries that really immerses you in the world of freediving and its communities. I fell in love with both Alessia and Stephen, which makes their tragic tale even more heart-wrenching. I’ve never even heard of Dahab’s legendary Blue Hole and its challenging 85-foot-long tunnel 184 feet below the Red Sea, but now I can’t stop thinking about it.

The Deepest Breath is also one of the most beautiful docs I’ve ever seen, every shot is like a painting! I don’t know if documentary cinematographers are eligible for Oscars but man, DP Tim Cragg ought to be nominated! I sure hope to see this amongst Best Documentary Oscars come award season. This film is simply breathtaking!!

The Deepest Breath is now streaming on Netflix

Have you seen this documentary? I’d love to hear what you think!

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