Though its aftertitles detailing the history of French nuke experiments suggest otherwise, writer/director Marion Hänsel’s Black Ocean is not a political treatise or a history lesson, instead taking advantage of the remote, isolated environments in which the experimentation took place – as well as the monumental imagery of the act itself – in order to communicate a more universal story about the power of awe. Ocean principally follows three young sailors on a French naval vessel in 1972, who are on course for an unknown destination in order to help carry out the bomb tests they’ve yet to personally witness. The film is essentially divided into two parts: before and after the blast.

Three friends from California are filming an audition tape for an extreme reality game show. They document their journey to Australia where they will be doing their most dangerous activity.... Shark Cage Diving. A catastrophic turn of events leaves them in baited water full of Great White Sharks, turning their recording into a blood chilling diary of survival... and death.

A weekend cruise on a luxurious party yacht goes horribly wrong for a group of old high-school friends when they get stuck in the water many miles from shore and a happy reunion turns into a fight for survival.