This Netflix Documentary Plays a Cruel Bait-and-Switch on Its Audience
Netflix's The Deepest Breath follows freedivers Alessia Zecchini and Stephen Keenan, but it turns their fates into an unneeded plot twist.
How much should a documentary withhold from an audience? Revealing too much at once can either be confusing or zap the natural suspense out of the story being told. A documentary is different from a fictional movie, even one that claims to be “based on a true story” because it’s a true account of an event or individual. How it explores the story is still important, and it can be creative in ways other than using one interview after another, but when a filmmaker conceals key facts to progress a harrowing experience, it can feel too manipulated. The Deepest Breath on Netflix has an engaging story, yet the movie plays with audience expectations over the survival of its main character, free diver Alessia Zecchini. There is more genuine tension when the film is upfront and honest, rather than aiming for a gotcha moment, which is set up throughout.
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