Recent years have seen an influx of fantastic underwater documentary films. The advent of streaming services has kicked off a regular supply of high quality documentaries covering all aspects of underwater adventure. To be clear that’s the focus of this list – underwater adventure, rather than wildlife or conservation. These films document the effort to explore, survive or push the boundaries of the underwater world. So here’s a collection of 5 of the best.
Becoming Cousteau (2022)
The average diver’s’ knowledge of Jacques Cousteau, his life, films and accomplishments tends to vary drastically by age. The younger among us will be familiar with his name but might not know the details of what he actually achieved. National Geographic’s recent documentary Becoming Cousteau is a fantastic chronicle of his life and career.
My biggest concern was it was going to be a lightweight puff piece, scared to look at any controversial aspects of his character and actions. However, it never shies away from the complexities of the man: whether his financial ties to oil companies or his marriage and family life. The original Cousteau documentaries aren’t readily available for streaming (legally) so this serves as a welcome reminder of how good those shows actually were.
Available to stream on Disney+
The Rescue (2021)
The Thai cave rescue doesn’t need an introduction. It was such a big story. The Rescue is the conclusive documentary covering the events of the rescue. It has all the key first hand accounts from the people who were there: Rick Stanton, John Volanthan et al and all the necessary archival footage to capture the atmosphere of the rescue itself.
The film succeeds in re-telling a story whose ending you’ll already know but manages to keep it gripping. However, its greatest strength is giving an honest portrait of the divers themselves; they were not square jawed heroes from comic books. They were introverts, diving nerds, and deep specialist in a niche field of an already niche hobby. As a diving nerd myself I think that is something to celebrate.
Available to stream on Disney+
Last Breath (2018)
What would you do: alone on the seabed at 100m with only a couple of minutes of gas left? That’s the position commercial diver Chris Lemons found himself in when a cascade of failures on his support vessel caused his umbilical life line to be cut. The film covers the incident and the attempts of the crew to rescue him.
It serves as a fascinating window into the isolated world of saturation diving in the North Sea. The combination of actual footage and excellent reconstructions place you on the seabed along with Lemons. The story is currently being remade as a feature film starring Woody Harrelson, make sure you check out the documentary first.
Available to buy or rent on Amazon
Dave Not Coming Back (2020)
Whereas The Rescue covered an international news phenomenon Dave Not Coming Back is a far smaller cave diving story. It charts the efforts of cave divers Don Shirley and David Shaw to recover a body from 270m in the Boesmansgat cave in South Africa. There’s no pressing need to do this recovery and the risks are clear: it’s exceptionally deep, isolated and at significant altitude. The tragic results raises many fundamental questions in diving around necessity, balancing risk and egos. A must watch.
Available to stream on Sky
The Deepest Breath (2023)
I recently reviewed the film in detail. The Deepest Breath follows the intercepting story of Italian Freediving world champion Alessia Zecchini and safety diver Stephen Keenan. It’s clear the film is building toward tragedy but it keeps you guessing to the who, when and how. The story is told mainly through stunning archival footage shot at actual freediving events – the long shots descending into the blue are mesmerising. The film somehow manages to simultaneously be a fantastic advert for and warning against competitive freediving.
Available to stream on Netflix
