Submergence


Submergence is a 2017 romantic thriller film directed by Wim Wenders, based on the novel of same name by J. M. Ledgard. The film stars Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy. The film premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. It received generally unfavorable reviews and was a box office bomb.

Plot

In a room with no windows on the eastern coast of Africa, a British engineer, James More, is held captive by Somali jihadist fighters. Thousands of miles away in the Greenland Sea, bio-mathematician Danielle Flinders prepares to dive in a submersible to the ocean floor. In their confines they are drawn back to their chance meeting and subsequent romance while on vacation in Normandy.

Cast

In November 2015, Alicia Vikander, and James McAvoy joined the cast of the film, with Wim Wenders directing the film, from a screenplay by Erin Dignam, based upon the novel by J.M Ledgard. In January 2016, Embankment Films came on board to handle the international sales for the film. In April 2016, Celyn Jones joined the cast of the film.
Fernando Velazquez composed the film's score.

Filming

on the film began on 12 April 2016 in Berlin, Germany. The film was also shot in the Faroe Islands, Madrid and Toledo, Spain, as well as multiple locations in France and Djibouti.

Release

In May 2016, Mars Distribution and Antena 3 acquired distribution rights in France and Spain respectively. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2017. Shortly after, Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. It was released in the United States on 13 April 2018, in a limited release and through video on demand.

Response

Box office

Submergence grossed $0 in North America and a total worldwide of $852,319, plus $106,879 with home video sales, against a production budget of €15 million.

Critical reception

, the film holds a 23% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 53 reviews with an average rating of 4.27/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A slow-moving misfire, Submergence isn't as deep as it thinks it is -- but still manages to drown its stars in a drama whose admirable ambitions remain almost entirely unfulfilled." On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
Matt Zoller-Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, writing that "the actors and the filmmaking are seductive enough that Submergence isn't a chore to sit through, but it's not engrossing, either." Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and commented that "Submergence feels like a clumsy melange, a confused adaptation made by people who don't seem quite sure what they have on their hands. John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "More conventional than Wenders' best-loved work, it should manage to please some old fans while reaching — thanks to star power — younger moviegoers who've never heard of him." Many viewers and critics failed to notice the key movements at the end as James first moves in the water and then closes his eyes in an immersion of light.