Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

The Drowning Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 12, 2017

Director Bette Gordon's The Drowning comes based on Author Pat Barker's novel Border Crossing, first published back in 2001. The film is tasked with covering a lot of emotional and psychological ground in a relatively short amount of time, always a challenge for a film based on a book but particularly so here, it would seem. While well assembled and strongly performed, the film appears to lack much of the character nuance necessary to shape the story in a more meaningful and rewarding way. Gordon does resist turning the film into a more traditional Thriller, remaining keyed in on the core narrative and complex underpinnings that define the two lead characters and their interrelationships, those things they share in common, those things they do not, and how both ends pull them apart. The film does its best to keep pace, but the material seems better suited for the page where inner voices, subtle conflict, and other critical supports of the broader narrative can be explored in much greater detail.

Man in darkness.

Tom and Lauren Seymour (Josh Charles and Julia Stiles) are a married couple -- he's a therapist, she's an artist -- who are hoping to have a baby. Their lives are turned upside down, however, when they witness a man attempting suicide, jumping into a frigid body of water. Tom dives in after him and, despite a struggle, brings the man back to the shore. Lauren resuscitates him. It turns out that the man is Danny Miller (Avan Jogia), a young man who, as a boy, committed a murder and was locked away in large part due to Tom's professional testimony. Danny, now going by the name of Ian Wilkinson (so named for the prison warden's first name and the chaplain's last), injects himself deeply into the Seymour's life, drawn to Lauren's beauty and wanting Tom to experience the deepest inner pains that have haunted him for much of his life. Meanwhile, Tom and Lauren begin to drift further apart as both become obsessed with work and Danny's presence further widens the wedge between them.

Psychological scars are frequently torn open in The Drowning. The film explores past, present, and future pains from three interconnected perspectives. It shows a world crumbling around the characters, and Tom in particular, as work absorbs him, his home life begins drifting away, temptations enter his life, and his past returns to haunt him. He's torn asunder by Danny's return, unsure of the ex-criminal's motivations and positioning in his life and marriage. That core story element isn't exactly new, however. The story of a person from the past driving a wedge in the present and threatening the future is a staple of films such as this, which are often physically dark and emotionally bleak. The Drowning does little of interest with the idea, though again it circles back to the absence of real estate and the cinema medium's general limitations to explore the unsaid, the core, sometimes crude, often unexplainable or unfilmable contexts that drive a person from deep within. The film does its best but can find only fleeting remedy for a permanent ailment.

This is a film with good intentions. There's a quality story here of pain, of tortured souls, of wayward life and building uncertainty. The characters are intriguingly complex and their relations and how they live in their interconnectedness offer plenty of room for enticing exploration. The film just never quite gets there. That's not because of the cast. Josh Charles and Avan Jogia are wonderful in the leads, doing their best to not only explore, but exhibit and express, their characters' darkest points along their arcs, to live the pain and uncertainty and somehow open up the qualities and characteristics the film simply cannot otherwise depict in traditional ways. The performances never want for more subtlety or grasp of the characters' innermost fears, desires, and doubts. The actors are limited only by the film medium itself, but it's clear that they have fashioned a deep understanding, and not just earned a grasp, of the backstories and pains that make their characters. The movie is certainly much better off with them than it might otherwise would have been with a less dedicated leading duo at the top.

The Drowning Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Drowning's 1080p Blu-ray presentation delivers a satisfying watch, though the film isn't often one of extreme visual variance, excess color, or regular vitality. It's a fairly bland, bleak movie, never completely pushing color away but certainly favoring less of it, at least more often than not. Shades of blue and gray define some scenes, though there are plenty of instances where fuller, more completely saturated shades -- clothes, faces, environments -- enjoy a bit of push beyond the basic bland consistency. Details are firm and pleasing. Faces reveal enough intimate complexity to please, as do clothes and a number of locations, whether cozy interiors or more rough, natural exteriors. Black levels hold very deep; a nighttime shot in which Danny attempts to return to prison is particularly locked-in. Skin tones appear consistent with mood and lighting. This is a quality release from Sony.

The Drowning Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Drowning features a high-yield DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack capable of both precise reservation and highly aggressive delivery alike. The track produces engaging surround activity and full-stage traversal during a train ride under the opening titles. The water rescue offers a satisfying sense of immersive depth below the surface and widespread splashing above, complimented by a bass-heavy and widely dispersed musical score. Music remains well defined and capably wide and deep for the duration. The track offers a number of interesting support effects throughout, both precisely positioned and more enveloping alike. A ticking clock punctuates one scene while basic barroom din fills the stage in another. Dialogue is, unsurprisingly, the mainstay element and driving factor. It's presented well, as expected, in proper balance, prioritization, and positioning.

The Drowning Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Drowning contains on extra. Behind the Scenes of 'The Drowning' (1080p, 8:13) features cast and crew discussing the core narrative, the process of adapting the original novel to a film, character details, tone, and more. A DVD copy of the film is included with purchase. However, a digital copy is not.

The Drowning Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a good story in The Drowning, but the film doesn't quite find it. It lays all of the pieces in place, the actors open up their souls and expose as much of the characters as possible, but the film can't quite reach in far enough to bring out everything the story demands. It seems a classic example of a tale better left for the pages; the mediums need not, and often cannot, stand as complimentary to one another. Despite the best intentions, a strong cast, and Director Bette Gordon's best efforts, the film cannot explore the characters to the fullest or find that deepest psychological pain necessary to translate the story to the screen. Sony's Bu-ray is technically fine, offering high format standard video and audio. Supplements are limited to a single interview compilation. Worth a look, but read the book first.