In February 2024, a little Swedish film called The Abyss was added to Netflix and quickly ascended the popularity charts, proving that filmmakers don’t have to spend a fortune on effects to create intense feelings of dread and danger for viewers.
Not to be confused with the 1986 James Cameron movie with the same name, The Abyss, or Avgrunden if you’re brushing up on your Swedish vocabulary (and who isn’t?), was filmed in its original language and dubbed in English. This is another one of Netflix’s many foreign language offerings that are available to watch in English, a trend that opens up a world of new content for us all. The dubbing is done so well, that it’s easy to forget you’re watching a foreign film at all.
The Abyss was directed by Richard Holm (GÃ¥smamman), who also wrote the screenplay with his son Robin Sherlock Holm (The Machinery) and Nicola Sinclair. As a director, Holm is known for his “Nordic noir” style of filmmaking and for exploring familial connections and relationships, which he does throughout The Abyss. The story takes place in the real-life town of Kiruna, the northernmost town in Sweden located about 124 miles above the Arctic polar circle. The town also happens to be perched atop one of the largest ore mines in the world. Over-mining has caused the ground to become unstable, which kicks off the action of the film.
The movie starts like many other disaster movies: a group of drunk teenagers crawl through a fence into a forbidden area and are sucked into the shifting ground. Next, we meet our leading lady Frigga (Annihilation‘s Tuva Novotny), who is on shaky ground even before the earth starts to move. Frigga’s personal life is in ruins; she’s going through a messy divorce with her husband Tage (Peter Franzen), is at odds with her daughter Mika (Felicia Truedsson), who protests the excessive mining in town, and is distant from her son Simon (Edvin Ryding), who is acting out because of his parents’ split. The ray of sunshine in her life is her new boyfriend Dabir (Kardo Razzazi), the epitome of a good man.
As the security manager of the Kiirunavaara mine, Frigga is an important person who takes her work seriously. The moment parts of the mine system start collapsing beneath the town, she leaps into action, especially since her son has gone missing at the worst possible time. Tage, the head of operations at the mine, insists on joining Frigga to search for their son in the tunnels underground. Firefighter Dabir also insists on staying by her side, and her friend Erika (Angela Kovacs), a mining expert, also joins to help. What follows is one of the more harrowing sequences we’ve seen in ages!
If you’ve ever seen The Descent, you might have some idea of the level of claustrophobia viewers experience as the four wend their way through the tunnels. Things go from bad to worse as the ground continues to shift, collapsing the tunnels as our rescuers struggle to squeeze through tight, dusty places. We get a small moment of relief (and even a laugh) when Frigga accidentally knocks Tage out when he gets stuck and panics, but then it’s back to the stressful, nail-biting action.
When they emerge, still Simon-less, the filmmakers take some time to explore the relationship between Frigga, Taye, and Dabir. Taye wants Frigga back and is antagonistic towards Dabir, but as the film progresses their relationship is forced to change by sheer circumstance. After all, it’s hard to hate someone when they’ve saved your life or the life of your loved one.
By the time we reach the dramatic and downright thrilling conclusion, we’re fully enthralled by both the action and the characters. Unlike major Hollywood fare like Dante’s Peak or 2012, The Abyss didn’t have a gigantic CGI or explosives budget, yet they did a lot with what they had. The scene when the streets open up in the city center and send civilians scrambling to find solid ground is riveting, and it feels real. Dabir is the real MVP once again, saving Mika’s life and carrying at least one toddler to safety, but the film isn’t afraid to claim a few lives, either.
All in all, The Abyss is a fun disaster movie that often leaves viewers on the edge of their seats. The acting is superb, the language dubbing is well done, and the storytelling has heart. Not a bad way to spend an hour and 44 minutes, if you ask us.
The Abyss is now streaming on Netflix.
(featured image: Netflix)
