The Deepest Breath Delves into the Dazzling, Dangerous World of Competitive Freediving

In competitive free-diving, adrenaline-seekers plunge hundreds of feet into the ocean with just a breath of air to sustain themselves for the arduous journey below and back to the surface. The Deepest Breath, an exceptional Netflix documentary written and directed by Laura McGann, uses incredible archival footage to help recount the recent history of this intense sport. While most docs would be wary to explicitly state that certain elements have been manipulated to suit the filmmaker’s narrative whims, McGann’s film is intentionally structured to introduce viewers to world record-breaking Italian freediver Alessia Zecchini and renowned Irish safety diver Stephen Keenan – and the niche extreme sport they love – in a way that’s both informative and anxiety-inducing. Through carefully reconstructing the story of Zecchini and Keenan’s eventual alliance (and implied romance), viewers both familiar with and new to the topic may find newfound understanding of the subjects.

The film opens with years-old footage of Zecchini driving along the sandy shores of Long Island (in the Bahamas, not New York), which we later learn is the location of the famous Vertical Blue freediving competition. An unseen Italian woman in the car – likely the person filming – asks Zecchini how she feels about death. “Honestly, I’ve never thought about it,” she responds. “I think if someone has to die, they will.” The chilling nonchalance of her answer already plants speculative seeds about her own fate, but those even tangentially tuned-in to the sport know that she’s currently one of the most recognizable and esteemed figures in the game. However, her words are no less a harbinger for encroaching tragedy on the horizon.

The Deepest Breath goes on to lay the groundwork: Zecchini’s lifelong aspirations to become a freediver, inspired by Russian icon Natalia Malchonova; the intense training she undertook to make a name for herself; the tenacity that grew in her to one day hold a world record. Her father appears in talking head segments to add insight into her upbringing and evolving personage, a certain worry for his daughter permanently etched into the contours of his face.

The film then pivots into exploring the childhood and adult exploits of Stephen Keenan, from the claustrophobia he felt in his Dublin neighborhood to a multi-country trek through Africa in his 20s. Again, Keenan’s father is interviewed to provide further details (Keenan’s mother passed away from cancer decades ago), but there’s a thick melancholy attached to his anecdotes and recollections. Because both fathers speak about their children in the past tense and neither Zecchini or Keenan initially appear in the film themselves, there’s an unshakable feeling of loss embedded in The Deepest Breath from the get-go.

Learning the background and terminology inherent to the film’s subjects and the sport they compete in is vital, particularly when gauging the imminent threat of death and bodily harm that lingers just under these blue depths. On the way down, one can suffer from “lung squeeze,” which occurs at pressures 30-40 meters underwater and results in coughing up blood and the subsequent scarring of lung tissue. On the way up, the deadliest threat is blackouts, where the brain suddenly shuts down due to lack of oxygen. This is what causes 99% of fatalities in the sport, typically by way of drowning, and usually happens within the last 10 meters before an athlete reaches the surface. Avoiding these potentially lethal physical reactions is precisely how Keenan made a name for himself as a safety diver, or someone who meets the freediver 20-30 meters underwater to monitor their ascent and ensure they don’t need any aid (and is ready to act fast if they do).

While the informative aspects of The Deepest Breath are enthralling in their own right, the footage that McGann procures is nothing short of enchanting. As it turns out, these freediving competitions are not shoddily captured for curious viewers to livestream at home (which Zecchini’s father routinely does). They’re gorgeously shot, the vivid colors of these exotic beachside locales saturating the screen. Cameras additionally plummet under the surface with designated freediving videographers, capturing the elegance and athleticism of these divers in motion. It’s easy for viewers to unintentionally hold their breath along with Zecchini and others, only gasping for air after recognizing that we, too, aren’t gliding vertically through the ocean in a minutes-long gamble for greatness.

This footage is further bolstered by vlogs from Zecchini and Keenan (particularly the latter, who kept a video diary of sorts during his young adulthood), which offer personal musings in lieu of their inclusion through interview segments. Additional visual elements like newscasts, podcast interviews, and sparse interviews with other divers and sports journalists round out the narrative. Though the film could have easily begun with the moment that would cement Zecchini and Keenan together forever – Zecchini’s attempt to pass The Arch of the notoriously treacherous Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt without any fins – but McGann’s choice to incrementally intertwine the lives of the divers until they finally cross paths in the third act make for an enticing story, and it makes sense why the filmmaker would opt for this narrative.

It’s confounding, though, that with a trove of such excellent footage, McGann would choose to implement reenactments that take the audience out of the moment. She directs Zecchini’s father in a re-staging of his reaction to a particularly dangerous Blue Vertical dive that his daughter embarked on, the elderly man squinting at his iPad trying to muster the requisite unease anew. There is also a recreation of awkward, emoji-laden WhatsApp messages between Zecchini and Keenan during their suspected romance. These segments, while brief, are nonetheless wildly distracting and, honestly, just plain corny. There are also a few short clips that are used excessively throughout the film. It’s fine enough for McGann to build on the romance between the two athletes, but re-using the same 10-second clip of a single embrace seems like overkill. If there’s a dearth of photographic evidence to support their union, does it truly merit inclusion in the film?

These relatively minor missteps don’t detract from the overall achievement of The Deepest Breath, which adeptly highlights an athletic subculture full of die-hard enthusiasts who, tragically, face death on the regular. Perhaps Zecchini’s blasé attitude toward her own mortality isn’t narcissism, but an efficient way to compartmentalize. And while some of us might find these sea-plunging exploits as intrinsically worrying, most freedivers find immense peace in the process. “It feels like you are flying,” Zecchini says of the dive down into the dark ocean. “The silence, it’s unique. It’s like being in the last quiet place on Earth.” Underwater, you can’t hear about the deluge of worldly anxieties or respond to the monotony of daily tasks; you don’t even breathe, so you must simply be.

Director: Laura McGann
Writer: Laura McGann
Release Date: July 14, 2023 (Netflix)

Natalia Keogan is Filmmaker Magazine’s web editor, and regularly contributes freelance film reviews here at Paste. Her writing has also appeared in Blood Knife Magazine, SlashFilm and Daily Grindhouse, among others. She lives in Queens with her large orange cat. Find her on Twitter @nataliakeogan