Submergence review

Renowned German director Wim Wenders fails to deliver the goods in this murky love story that never takes off.

Submergence is a narrative that embraces the two extremely different worlds of its protagonists, Danielle Flinders (Alicia Vikander) and James More (James McAvoy).

The couple meet by chance in a remote hotel in Normandy where they both prepare for a dangerous mission. They fall in love against their will, but soon recognise in each other the love of their lives.

When they have to separate, we find out that James works for the British Secret Service. He’s involved in a mission in Somalia to track down a source for suicide bombers infiltrating Europe.

Danielle is a bio-mathematician working on a deep sea diving project to support her theory about the origin of life on the planet.

James McAvoy and Alicia Vikander in Submergence.

Soon, they are worlds apart. James is taken hostage by Jihadist fighters and has no way of contacting her.

She has to descend to the bottom of the ocean in her submersible, not knowing if James is still alive, but hoping deep down that one day they will meet again.

Submergence is a painfully slow unravelling of emotions that never coalesces into the epic romance that it purports to be. It fizzles when it should ignite.

Info

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Cast: Alicia Vikander, James McAvoy, Alexander Siddig, Jannik Schümann, Reda Kateb, Jess Liaudin, Godehard Giese.

Director: Wim Wenders

Classification: 16 V