While American audiences may be familiar with Baltasar Kormakur thanks to his Hollywood debut on last year’s hit “Contraband” starring Mark Wahlberg, in his native Iceland, the filmmaker is not just respected as a director, but as an actor as well. Films like “Jar City” (which he helmed, and there’s a remake in the works) and “Reykavik-Rotterdam” (in which he starred; the film was remade as “Contraband”) — and oh yeah, he was a producer on both — helped put him on the map, and of course, Hollywood came calling. But he never left home completely, and while later this summer his re-teaming with Wahlberg for the action flick “2 Guns” will hit theaters, coming first is a film that saw Kormakur return home to tell a gripping true story.
The dramatic thriller “The Deep” tells the tale of a group of fisherman whose boat capsizes in freezing waters, and centers on the one, unlikely everyman who manages to survive the harsh conditions and unbelievable set of circumstances. The picture was Iceland’s official Oscar entry last year, and while it didn’t make the final five, at home it scooped up 11 Edda Awards including Best Film, Best Director and Actor Of The Year. The film also landed wins in some key tech categories, not surprising as the setpieces and water-based sequences are rendered with some bracing realism, as you’ll see in this exclusive trailer.
Focus World will release “The Deep” on VOD on May 21st, but keep your eyes peeled for theatrical screenings near you via Gathr Films. Watch below.
