BELOW

An American submarine in action during World War II receives the order to rescue the survivors of an English hospital ship, sunk in the middle of the ocean by an enemy torpedo. The survivors that the crew manages to recover are only three: a seriously injured soldier, a man, and a woman, Dr. Claire Paige, devastated by the loss of all her patients. The submarine's journey complicates mysteriously after the rescue operation, between enemy attacks and a series of malfunctions that make it impossible to reach the planned route. Suspicion then begins to creep among the crew, divided between the conviction of having boarded a saboteur and that of finding themselves trapped in a cursed submarine, haunted by dark and disturbing presences. It will be Dr. Paige who approaches the solution of the mystery step by step... Director David Twohy, author of the pleasant and original "Pitch Black" (as well as the upcoming "The Chronicles of Riddick"), gives us another small taste of his skill behind the camera with this surprising "Below", a film that manages to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat throughout its duration, gluing them to the screen with the simplicity and at the same time with the strength of its claustrophobic atmospheres. "Below" in reality does not present any sensational element from the start, on the contrary: the underwater setting (and the rescue of people in danger among whom there is also a seriously injured person) leaves the viewer with the unpleasant feeling of being faced with yet another clone of "Alien" in an underwater version, a cinematic genre that was very fashionable until a few years ago. Never as in this case do appearances deceive. "Below" develops with extreme originality, decisively distancing itself from what has been seen so far in a film set in the depths of the sea, creating a superb web of tension and mystery of unparalleled charm. The story never falls into the banal and predictable (just as it never yields decisively to the paranormal and horror), but evolves through the relationships between the characters (all perfectly characterized) in a logical-narrative continuum of solid and captivating structure. The plot and main development of the story follow the classic model of the giallo and thriller (at times truly a bit tangled due to the numerous characters and a series of confusing situations that require our total attention to be understood), offering, in its unfolding, a series of well-placed and never forced plot twists. Around this precise narrative construction (which provides for the solution of the mystery as in the most classic of gialli) develops the call to the paranormal, however skillfully built by the director (also co-author of the screenplay) to leave the viewer with the doubt and the possibility of an alternative explanation. On more than one occasion, in fact, one wonders whether what we see happening on the screen is really real or whether the presences inside the submarine are nothing more than the hallucinations of a crew forced by a malfunction to not surface for a long time (and consequently forced to breathe more carbon dioxide than oxygen). On a technical level, David Twohy's direction is impeccable, charged with intensity and very personal: the dark and silent style that characterized "Pitch Black" seems to be repeated in this film with renewed vigor, outlining without hesitation the ability of a director of undoubted talent. The construction of some scenes, the alternation of lights and shadows, the sensation of oppressive claustrophobia that the images convey, offer some memorable sequences that will put even the nerves of the most seasoned viewers to the test. Computer graphics, although used sporadically and of non-excellent quality, are used with good taste and without overdoing it, appearing only in the moments indispensable to the narration and contributing to enhancing the already convincing visual impact of the film: even the setting, as inevitably restricted and little varied as it is, is built in the smallest details, making us perceive the real sensation of living locked in a submarine. "Below" is a winning film all the way through, warmly recommended in particular to those who prefer to be seduced and scared by oppressive and disturbing atmospheres, rather than being stunned by the roaring chaos of splatter, blood, and violence. A film of real fear as we haven't seen in a long time.