Freediver (2024) - 6/10

This is a simple story, about a simple but dangerous sport. Freediving. Holding your breath for as long as you can, and decend as deep as you can. The only tricky thing is we’re not talking seconds and a few metres, we’re talking minutes and over 100m. Mind boggling. This tells the story of Alexey Molchanov, a Russian diver looking to not only reclaim a couple of records he lost after being banned from competition because of his nationality, but winning them back under a neutral flag and adding some more records. Five to be precise, in the main disciplines of the sport. Something never done before by one diver in a single season. Inspired by his mother, whose own story is equally captivating, it’s a deeply personal narrative. The underwater photography is pretty stunning and helps punctuate the drama on the surface. There’s political turmoil, competitive posturing, it’s pretty fascinating. The techniques deployed are as much about the power of the mind as of the body and the tone of the diving sequences plays up to it with a dramatic dreamlike score. It’s meditative, zen-like. A story with purity, balance, drive and ambition. Powerful stuff, Alexey is passionate, but so are all the voices here. It’s highly emotive, purposefully so and helps give this some real heart alongside the record attempts. It’s not perfect, but it sure is breathtaking.

6/10