DIVING INTO THE DARKNESS
A Reel Voices Review by David Jackson
How would you cope being lost in an underwater passage no bigger than a drain pipe after your lifeline got cut, or emerging from a cave in the middle of the rainforest having gotten potentially lethal decompression sickness? There are few people in the world who could handle such a situation and Jill Heinerth is one of them having lived through both. DIVING INTO THE DARKNESS is a documentary film directed by Nays Baghai that follows Jill Heinerth’s career. It tells the incredible story of Heinerth’s journey into cave diving through exploring several of the most hair-raising dives throughout her career.
Early the film dispels the popular understanding of cave diving as an extreme sport and establishes it far more in the lineage of exploration and space travel. These people are not adrenalin junkies, but explorers that push on the frontiers of human knowledge in order to discover the unknown, the beautiful, and the important.
DIVING INTO THE DARKNESS demonstrates all three but it has a particular focus on the beautiful as almost all of the film’s narration is set to some of the most jaw-dropping underwater footage ever recorded. The comparison to space travel is brought into sharp relief by the eerie, otherworldly footage of caves from all across the world. From the tight claustrophobic spaces of a cave in Latin America to the giant cathedral-like structure of a cave in Florida through to the stark bright beauty of the inside of a glacier at the end of the world, every frame of footage captured in this unexplored frontier could stand as a work of art in its own right.
It also works as a suspense film. It tells the stories of some of her most dangerous dives and near-death experiences in a slow deliberate way that builds the tension perfectly, relying heavily on Jill’s perfectly pitched narration to convey the danger and wonder of cave diving without resorting to hyperbole. The film has a relatively short run time, at only 96 minutes, yet it feels longer. In much the same way that a second can feel like a lifetime in a subterranean cave, so too can time slow as the tension of these stories builds for the audience as they hold their breath.
Between these moments of high tension, the film gives you time to breathe and explains not only the context of these dives and their scientific importance but also Jill's biography. These biographical sections use animation to visualise foundational moments in her life and really give you an insight into what would drive someone to pursue such a dangerous career.
Part nature documentary, part biography, part suspense film but always beautiful and captivating DIVING INTO THE DARKNESS is well worth your time. You probably won’t come away wanting to dive into the darkness yourself but you will leave with a profound respect for Jill Heinerth and those brave enough to explore the subterranean frontiers.