THE DIVE: Director Maximilian Erlenwein Talks About His New Thriller

Introduction 

Cinema Scholars interviews Maximilian Erlenwein, writer/director of the new survival thriller The Dive which will be available In Theaters and Everywhere You Rent Movies on August 25, 2023.

Nothing says summer like a good ol’ extreme survival movie. You know the kind. Young adults with past drama go on a hiking/boating/climbing/diving excursion to bond and work out unresolved issues. But before they get to the emotional nitty gritty, a sudden catastrophic event throws their journey into survival mode. The rest of the film sees the desperate players (often women) using every last ounce of ingenuity and dogged determination until whatever twist/miracle/tragedy eventually plays out. 

From the campy to dramatic, it seems like a new human-vs-nature thriller comes out every week, with each new outing upping the ante. In Maximilian Erlenwein’s new film The Dive, the director not only nails the anxiety-inducing suspense of a great survival tale, but he does so within the gorgeous and terrible depths of the sea. 

Adapted from the 2020 Swedish film, Tödliche Tiefen (Breaking Surface), The Dive takes place at the breathtaking cliffs of Malta. Sisters May and Drew drive along the coast on a seemingly picturesque outing. As Drew croons along to “Only You,” an undercurrent of unease is already apparent from her sister. When the women arrive at their remote cliffside destination, their M.O. becomes clear. They are there to scuba dive together in the underwater caves and crags of the Mediterranean. 

With pro-level diver May leading her experienced, but more timid sister, the pair gear up and make their way down the treacherous staircase carved into the stone bluff. Flashbacks of the sisters swimming together as children nod to a shared love of the water. Yet despite the serene memories, a shroud of mystery prevails. 

Just as the pair are enjoying their descent into the tranquil depths, a rockslide pelts the divers, pinning May to the ocean floor. From there, Drew must pull herself together and figure out a way to save her sister before their time and oxygen run out. 

With a breathtaking mix of hypnotic imagery paired with nail-biting suspense, The Dive is both heart-wrenching and heart-pounding. Though there’s a hint of a revelation about the sister’s unspoken drama, any emotional exposition is kept at a minimum. Nevertheless, that apparent bond helps crystallize the current peril. 

Like most of these types of films, part of the enjoyment is watching how the characters “MacGyver” their way out of the predicament. As the most logical strategies give way to more desperate attempts at escaping, the problem-solving aspect adds intrigue to the captivating story.

Louisa Krause and Sophie Lowe amaze as determined sisters May and Drew, respectively. And don’t forget that nearly all of their emoting happens underwater. Though May is mostly stuck by herself on the ocean floor, flashes of past events and exchanges keep her character very present in the unfolding story. In these sporadic sequences, Krause painfully conveys her character’s complex emotions and vulnerability despite her confinement. 

While Krause is immersed literally and figuratively, Lowe is left with the majority of the action. Her frenzied back-and-forth trips to the surface to find a solution are physically demanding, and Lowe maintains the perfect level of blind tenacity to pull it off. As Drew frantically works to save the day, Lowe painstakingly embodies the extreme frustration and exhaustion each feat causes her character. 

For fans of the filmmaking process, it’s nearly impossible not to ponder how in the world a film like The Dive could even be made. Aside from storytelling with minimal dialogue and high intensity, the nuts and bolts of pulling off such a colossal project boggle the mind. Fortunately, Cinema Scholars had the chance to talk to writer/director Maximilian Erlenwein about taking on the challenge. 

Interview

Rebecca Elliott:

Hello! Thank you so much for joining me today to talk about The Dive. It was just so gorgeous and kind of hypnotic in between all the moments of utter terror and suspense. And it looks like a pretty challenging film to make, to say the least. Are you a diver? Have you shot footage underwater before? And what inspired you to take on such a colossal project?

Maximilian Erlenwein:

Well, yes, I am a diver. I did a lot of scuba diving in my early years, so to say when I was younger. And yeah, that was the origin of the diving. I didn’t do any filming underwater before. That was my first time. But I thought when I was offered the project, I thought, wow. This is such a great opportunity to get the audience immersed in this element in the ocean. 

Rebecca Elliott:

I love that you used the word immersed because it fits so well here. But what is it, do you think, about the ocean? How mysterious it is and evocative? Maybe I’m answering the question for you, but do you have any water films or ocean films that you drew inspiration from? And what is it about the ocean that is so compelling?

Maximilian Erlenwein:

Well, not so much other films. But I think diving is so beautiful and meditative. It’s like a meditation, right? Diving is really a psychedelic experience for me, in a way. The whole diving down in the water into the ocean. Like a metaphor for diving into your own subconsciousness, in a way. 

I thought this could be an element of the story that I was really attracted to or drawn to. And you said hypnotic. Yeah, I like that there’s a quality to diving into the ocean which is almost mystical next to all this terrifying edge-of-the-seat, suspense thing. I also wanted to capture a little bit of the magic of the ocean and the diving.

Rebecca Elliott:

Yeah, you did. It’s a beautiful juxtaposition. I’m sure there’s a lot of movie magic going on in The Dive. But, I mean, it looks like almost all of this film is filmed under the water. Can you talk about the challenges of doing that? Are you under the water yourself? Or are you up above looking at a screen? How do you talk to your crew? Can you talk about making a movie underwater in the ocean in a tank or wherever?

Maximilian Erlenwein:

There’s actually not that much movie magic in it. It’s all shot underwater. So there’s almost no CGI. Only the rock falls. That’s CGI. And of course, we shot all the stuff at the rock where she’s stuck in the tank. But only when they are really close. We had a very tiny set in the tank. Everything else is in the ocean. So what we did in the post-production was to match the ocean to the tank. But that was mostly grading, color grading, and adding a few particles here and there. We actually did it all in front of the camera. Even the particles to make it right. 

We had tons of different particles to make the water in the tank feel right and feel like it was in the ocean. It’s very challenging, to be honest. To shoot underwater. It’s ridiculous. I can’t recommend it. But it is also a lot of fun because it’s like shooting in nature. If the weather is bad, you just have to be Zen about it. You can’t force it. I mean, if the current is too strong if it’s too choppy, you can’t get where you want with the boat. And then you just can’t get what you need.

But on the other hand, when you get the camera like 30 meters underwater, and you achieve that one great wide shot. And the sun is like just getting the right angle, that’s super rewarding. It’s like, yes! And it’s for real. Audiences are so used to everything so overloaded with CGI and VFX. So I thought the only chance to make this immersive and to make this work visually is to make it real. And that was planned.

Rebecca Elliott:

Oh, that makes me so happy. I’m like, man, if this is all tricks, then it’s some really good tricks. Because it looks incredible. And where in the world did you find performers that were able to take on not only the emotional challenges of the roles but then also the physically challenging part of it? Tell me about the audition process. Finding those performers and then all of the things that you guys had to work on together to make it happen?

Maximilian Erlenwein:

First, we were thinking like, we need actresses who actually have experience with scuba diving. We were looking for them and we found none, basically. So we checked the plan and we thought, okay, we have to now find actresses who are crazy enough to do this. Because of course, it was a long casting process because they have the whole story on their shoulders. So I had to be very careful with them. 

It was a very intense casting process. And after the casting process, they started training. They didn’t do any diving before. So it was a few months before the shoot that they took their first scuba lesson. And then they really, really had to train because all you see in the film, they really do it. Of course, we had doubles in the ocean. Really crazy stuff was shown with doubles. But when they take off the mask and everything, the water fills up the mask. It’s all for real. All real. 

To act this and to perform this, I can’t emphasize enough how challenging that is to act. Panic underwater is very close to the real emotion. And you can’t panic underwater, obviously, because then it becomes really dangerous. So, yeah, they had to be really good, really experienced, and they did. They developed a passion and a love for diving, and that was amazing. And they fell in love with each other, in a way. They became like sisters, which helped a lot. So it was really rewarding work and a real pleasure working with those two.

Rebecca Elliott:

Yeah, I can imagine. That must be a bonding experience like no other, for sure. What kind of safety standards did you have to adhere to on set?

Maximilian Erlenwein:

Well, the safety standards, of course, are very high because it is dangerous to do. We had safety divers everywhere. So if they really panic, if they run out of air, they just had to stretch out the arm, actually. And they had a safety diver there who is really trained with that stuff. They really know what they’re doing. So they know when a diver really panics, and then they immediately have a regulator on them. But the challenge is, for all the team that is underwater, you have to check their nitrogen levels all the time. 

If one of the safety divers or the cinematographer or anyone, if the nitrogen levels get too high, almost everyone has to go up. So the time of actual shooting is very limited. You can be in the water for like 45 minutes max. Depends on the depths, of course. You have to get it all in 45 minutes, and then everybody goes up. And then when the nitrogen levels go down, everybody goes back in. Those 45 minutes are super stressful and super exciting.

Rebecca Elliott:

Wow! What a challenge. That’s amazing. I’m almost out of time, but I have one quick, totally random question. You guys filmed in Malta, right? Did you happen to go check out Robert Altman’s Popeye set while you were in Malta? 

Maximilian Erlenwein:

Of course, we did!

Rebecca Elliott:

I hear it’s just all still there right where they left it, and it’s really cool and weird.

Maximilian Erlenwein:

You can’t, not see it. It’s amazing. You cannot miss it. Actually, I think we shot right in front of it one time in the water there.

Rebecca Elliott:

So cool! Okay, thank you for letting me nerd out about that for a second. And also, thank you so much for joining me and talking about your awesome film. Good luck with everything.

Maximilian Erlenwein:

Thank you very much.

THE DIVE will be available In Theaters and Everywhere You Rent Movies on August 25, 2023.

Read more Cinema Scholars interviews!

THE MIRACLE CLUB: An Interview With Director Thaddeus O’Sullivan

THE WRATH OF BECKY: An Interview With The Directors And Star Lulu Wilson

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