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What happens when living on the edge becomes dying to be there? One of the good movies on Netflix -- “No Limit” -- examines that question. There are breaking points, and every human will eventually find theirs. Here lies the gripping struggle of Roxana, a lost soul looking for an anchor, when she decides to take a diving class. Hers is no ordinary course, with regular talent leading the way.
The students are partially guided by Pascal (Sofiane Zermani), a renowned free diver. He makes and breaks mind-blowing world records that squeeze his lungs into the size of an orange. It is hard to get any more graphic than that. The image “No Limit” paints is haunting in its vividness. Roxana (Camille Rowe) is far from repulsed by this world, its physical pain, or strenuous mental sacrifices.
She aspires to be a part of it.
“No Limit” (“Sous Emprise”) plums the depths of classic French storytelling. The Netflix film is smoldering, slow without growing tedious, highlighted by the joie de vivre of new love and the stormy lust that goes along with it. Likewise, the ocean is filled with a lot of danger, and as the movie demonstrates, the worst thing you can become is complacent.
This theme carries over to one’s personal life and the decisions therein. Love, lust, and who you decide to share both with is a life and death choice. You only need to watch one true crime show to get that terribly loud and extremely clear. “No Limit” is a fictional drama. However, the final seconds give way to a twist in that regard.
It is revealed the movie is dedicated to diver Audrey Mestre. Based on what I read of Mestre, it is safe to say that Netflix’s “No Limit” is loosely (emphasis on loosely) based on her. What the Netflix movie did is a more commendable choice than using real people’s names and entirely misrepresenting their lives as others have done.
This viewer went into “No Limit” feeling there was a potential undercurrent of inspiration to its script without knowing if that was the case. What is clearer is that, like Roxana, it is easy to feel lost in life, searching for something that gives us purpose. It is also easy to feel discombobulated by a romantic partner and their behavior.
Relationships can be a rip tide with unforgiving currents you cannot register until you are already too far from shore. Or are you? The movie’s writer and director, David M. Rosenthal, does a great job of gently diving deeper into the story between its leads as it evolves. Is it a romance? Or a cautionary tale about getting swept up in its mighty waves?
“No Limit” (“Sous Emprise”) is one of the more absorbing movies on Netflix. It has a beautiful location (think “The Weekend Away”), natural performances from its cast, and a vastly untapped backdrop for its plot. Deepsea diving is not a highly tapped backdrop, and it is an intriguing one. It would be great if others took the plunge.
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