Movie Review: How Deep Is Your Love

I’m always immediately interested in any documentary about life at the depths of Earth’s oceans. So little is known about what is down there, despite it taking up about 70% of our planet, that every time cameras are sent down something new is discovered, which means that we as viewers are privileged to be amongst the first humans to ever witness it. For those of us curious about our world, it offers up a unique thrill that is second only to actually being present on the expedition. It’s a shame then, if not exactly unsurprising, that we are already racing to destroy this undiscovered ecosystem in the name of profit.

Director Eleanor Mortimer has been invited along on an extended journey by a team from the Natural History Museum of London and she captures their earnest excitement as they head to the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone. This region of the sea floor is rich with nodules that potentially hold vast quantities of the rare earth elements needed to produce technology like rechargeable batteries. Decades earlier industrial interests attempted to extract the ancient rocks but found it cost prohibitive but now, with these materials in much higher demand and technology being more advanced, they are once again interested in deep sea mining.

These scientists are attempting to discover and catalog the life that exists at these unfathomable depths in the hopes of revealing just what would be lost by the highly destructive practices being proposed. It’s a noble cause, although one that can feel damaging in itself. In order to properly study the creatures, the taxonomists on the ship require specimens to be brought to the surface, which invariably kills them, a fact that is largely unexplored even if it does seem to occasionally weigh on their consciences. When their submersible robot arrives at the site of the first mining efforts, the unhealed destruction to the environment is immediately obvious, reminding the team and the audience that whatever harm this expedition is causing is miniscule in comparison and at least serves a higher purpose.

Thankfully this largely isn’t a mournful film, as Mortimer sprinkles touches of whimsical charm throughout and fully captures the infectious joy of discovery. Strikingly beautiful and unusual creatures abound, instilling a sense of awe in the scientists and the viewer in equal measure. She also smartly wonders about the creatures’ sense of our presence and what they might think of us, something that many will find themselves wondering as their habitat unfolds before our eyes. A sequence at the end that visualizes these animals exploring the world of the surface goes on a little too long, but this is a striking, engrossing, often poetic, and urgent examination of a little understood and underappreciated part of our planet that needs us to start caring about it before it’s too late. ★★★★