The Abyss is a film written and directed by Richard Holm. It stars Tuva Novotny, Kardo Razzazi, Peter Franzén and Felicia Truedsson.
Sweden’s biggest rock burst, the world’s largest mine, causes hundreds of earthquakes every year. The surrounding communities have to keep moving due to the tremors, which destroy houses.
“The Abyss” is a Swedish film, dramatic and with a touch of ecological sustainability, about an overexploited mine that threatens to destroy a city. It is a small production that knows what it wants to achieve, how to do it, and above all, what resources it has and who its target audience is.
Thus, “The Abyss” is a television production that does not aim to reach the Hollywood disaster movie level and, by making good decisions (especially due to its budget), knows how to focus more on the characters and their development rather than the mine disaster itself.
Plot
A woman has a new boyfriend, a husband she has not yet divorced, and a rebellious daughter. Everything would be more or less bearable if it weren’t for the fact that she is one of the people responsible for the exploitation of a mine that revolves around the life of a town.
And guess what? Yes, the mine has just caused a collapse and the town begins to crumble.
About the film
“The Abyss” is primarily a made-for-television production that knows how to make things clear, with well-defined characters, and knows how to play with the new roles within the family, always aware of its modest production and its aesthetic possibilities. There is no budget here to create a disaster of cosmic proportions, and the intrigue revolves around the characters and their development, without focusing on action scenes or creating grandiose shots.
It has good photography, but not magnificent at any moment, and it is a film that focuses more on the script, the performances, and, above all, on presenting a situation as realistically as possible and, at the same time, raising awareness among the audience.
A film that centers its aspirations on its vision of the environment and the consequences of poor exploitation rather than on aesthetics or visuals.
It is not a bad film, but the abundance of Hollywood movies about natural disasters makes us expect a more spectacular film than the one we are watching.
However, without being completely original, the approach is completely appropriate.
Our Opinion
More interesting for its theme than its resolution. It does not shine in terms of cinematography, and the characters are designed to justify a message at all times.