Dead Sea

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Phil Volken directs. Helge Gerull behind the camera. Gad Emile Zeitune scores. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Released 2 years ago.
• 3Directed by Phil Volken, shot by Helge Gerull. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Gad Emile Zeitune. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Isabel Gravitt and Alexander Wraith and Dean Cameron carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "Survival has its price.".
• 7IMDB entry: tt11724920 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Helge Gerull

Original score

Gad Emile Zeitune

Runtime

88 min · 1h 28m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

IMDB

Dead Sea (2024) ↗

Also by

Phil Volken

• 
  Extortion

  2017 · ★ 6.1
• 
  The Bay

  2026 · ★ 5.6
• 
  Garbage

  2013 · ★ 4.8

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• CinemaSerf2025-01-18
  ★ 5/10

  "Kaya" (Isabel Gravitt) and her diving pals "Tessa" (Genneya Walton) and "Xander" (Koa Tom) find themselves stuck out at sea with two of them quite badly injured. Would you believe it, a boat is sailing nearby and the skipper spots them floating away with his binoculars and goes to the rescue. He's a curious sort of chap who doesn't seem remotely interested in his new charges, indeed he leaves the poor lad splayed on the deck! Next thing, both the girls are in the cargo hold and he (Alex Wraith) has arranged a rendezvous with a physician who has an altogether more sinister intention than they'd hoped for. It turns out these folks have swam into the midst of a people smuggling ring, and they are now $5k per head commodities - dead or alive. It's going to have to be up to the inventive "Kaya" to escape and see if she can call for help. Though pretty far-fetched, the story is quite tensely directed for about half an hour as a rather deadly little dimly lit cat and mouse game is played, but the acting is all pretty shocking, matched by some fairly banal dialogue and just a little too much serendipity. That said, though, it's nowhere near as bad as I was expecting when I saw the opening scenes and for a while towards the end it's decently menacing before things flare up nicely. You'll never remember it afterwards, indeed you might actually forget bits of it while you're watching it - but it's not the worst.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• DE

  Del Rey Films

• 

  Laguna Six

  US

Key crew

• Executive ProducerScott P. Barlow
• Co-ProducerSarah Brown Carter
• ProducerNicholas Davidoff
• Co-Executive ProducerJake P. Cohen
• Executive ProducerDerek Korogodsky
• Executive ProducerDavid Scherer
• Executive ProducerCalan Scherer
• Executive ProducerArvin Scott
• Executive ProducerMichael Weiss
• Executive ProducerRose Lizarraga
• ProducerAlina Shraybman
• Co-Executive ProducerDino S. Gardiakos
• Executive ProducerAndy Weiss
• ProducerRick Montgomery
• CastingThomas Sullivan
• Executive ProducerDominic Vicari
• ProducerPhil Volken
• ProducerCameron Fuller

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• sea
• boat
• survival horror
• admiring
• appreciative
• arrogant

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2024-07-26
• Digital2024-07-26

Also known as

International titles

• FlycatcherUS
• Armadilha em Alto MarBR
• Dead Sea - Trampa en alta marMX
• دریای مردهIR