When a Survival Story Became a Social Conversation
Initially, Breaking Surface (2020) seemed like a simple Nordic survival thriller. One half-sister is trapped underwater while the other is on a diving trip in remote Norway, and is desperately trying to rescue her. With the cold water, the ticking clock, and the raw emotions at play, it promised to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller. But as the film crossed international boundaries, it transcended the gripping underwater drama it was intended to be. It became part of the discourse of everyday life, inspired the creation of memes, and provoked discussions around the ideas of resilience, family, and women’s strength in societies that underestimate these qualities.
In India as well, the film struck a similar chord. Viewers on social media likened the suffocating pace of modern cities to the anxiety of the underwater scenes. “Watching Breaking Surface during the pandemic felt like I was trapped under my own version of rocks — deadlines, isolation, uncertainty,” one viewer tweeted. That sense of relatability, and the cultural discourse it inspired, allowed the film to reach far beyond the frosty borders of Norway.
An Overview that Draws You In
Ida (Moa Gammel Ginsburg) and her younger half-sister Tuva (Madeleine Martin) take a bonding trip to the frozen north. What begins as a dive into the mesmerizing arctic water quickly turns into a nightmare when a rockslide traps Tuva underwater, pinned to the bottom of the sea. With air running out and freezing water threatening both, Ida must dig deep to find the resourcefulness and spine Tuva will need to survive.
This tale is as primal as they come: waged are the forces of nature and humanity, fear and determination, utter despair, and love. But sisterhood is as primal as they come: Tuva’s calm, pressure, and strength are an aid to aid Ida’s self-doubt and morbid guilt. The narrative is about survival but, more importantly, the bonds we invisibly tether, are the strongest of all.
From Diving Masks to Fashion Hashtags
Oddly enough, breaking Surface sparked trends no one predicted. Dive suits and oxygen tanks may not sound like a fashion statement but adventure-wear brands noted an increase in popularity post the film. Instagram’s outdoor influencers began to post #BreakingSurface-inspired looks, which included a wetsuit with an off the shoulder, high fashion, anti-gravity, winter jacket. The backdrops of the posts were icy landscapes akin to the film’s stark visuals.
India’s adaptations of meme culture are also unique. A widely shared meme featuring Ida’s still of gasping through her diving mask was captioned, “Me trying to survive another Monday morning meeting.” Another meme that went viral within the same week compared Tuva’s trapped body to students stuck in group projects. Defying the narrative, the survival thriller found its second life in humor, proving that a serious film could still evoke laughter in the hands of creative fans.
What added to the depth of the film’s cultural wave was the real lives of its actors. Moa Gammel Ginsburg, who plays Ida, was open about her struggle with anxiety prior to taking on the role. She spoke about how she found a strange catharsis in channeling Ida’s panic in deep water. “It was therapy in the coldest way possible,” she told a Swedish paper. Her audiences felt more emotionally invested in her character’s breakdowns and breakthroughs knowing her history with mental health.
Madeleine Martin had not yet gotten used to working with international audiences. Her depiction of Tuva — composed, practical, yet fiercely resilient — was a revelation. As a Swede, she had spent a great deal of time outdoors and, thus, developed an authenticity in the handling of the diving equipment. Her experience with frigid, icy waters was an equilibrium to Tuva’s valor. She was prepared to brave the waters Martin, an actor, and the character began to taker over the paka in prepartion for the diving.
The Politics of Survival
Isolating the film from larger, and global discussions, was not possible with Breaking Surface. Environmentalists used the film and its plot to define the impacts of climate change, focusing on Tuva’s entrapment as a metaphor for humanity’s precarious existence. Feminists, on the other hand, used the film as a means to critique the unnecessary inclusion of a “male savior” to mitigate the tensions of the plot. For the first time, they noted, the emotional and physical burdens of the narrative were borne by the two women.
In India, columnists drew comparisons with the way women in households often overlap. Ida’s frantic efforts to save her sister — even while battling her own fears — felt like a metaphor for the countless women in “crisis” moments. For the first time, a Nordic thriller was woven into the global debates on gender.
Behind The Camera
The report on the making of Breaking Surface specifies how the story was filmed on location and not in sound stage tanks, for the story involved a significant portion of underwater cinematography. The actors took the initiative to train in cold-water diving to enhance the realism of the shoots instead of relying on stunt doubles. Moa Gammel Ginsburg actually admitted to experiencing slight panic attacks while submerged, but managed to overcome the descent to panic and breath control, ironic to the character Ida, who is in a constant on-screen state of panic.
Joachim Hedén, the director, described how shooting in the Norwegian cold waters was a management nightmare; devices and instruments would freeze, divers had to warm up in turns, and the command of the crew would be muffled and distorted with the actors and crew. However, in Hedén’s vision, the hardships were essential for realism. The absence of a Hollywood polish was a deliberate creative choice to communicate the difficulties of the story; the audiences were to experience the terror of silence and the crushing, suffocating silence that the characters in the film had to endure.
A Wave That Didn’t Just Break, It Spread
Breaking Surface accomplished more than providing thrills by the time most viewers reached the credits. It reflected our shared anxieties, initiated cross-cultural conversations, and transformed our understanding of female-led survival films. Indian audiences didn’t just consume the film. They participated by performing acts of appropriation, creating memes, arguing about the film, and integrating it into daily metaphors.
The film is able to sustain conversations long after its release, and this is perhaps due to its cultural impact. It is more than just a survival story about two sisters. It serves as a reminder that cultural representations can achieve profound impact. A testament to this is the film’s use of potent human narratives and its stark, harsh natural settings, rather than the expected superhero narratives from big franchises.
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