“Shot in high definition at 96 frames per second, this eyepopper from Russian director-writer-cinematographer-editor Victor Kossakovsky is like nothing you’ve ever seen. His free-form documentary on water opens by scaring us to death. The scene is on frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia, in which cars are shown cracking through the ice, while a rescue team labors to save a driver and passenger. It’s a showstopping sequence that reminds you how, when it comes to raging H2O, human beings are unfit opponents.
“Kossakovsky and his fellow camera virtuoso Ben Bernhard capture sights that blur the line between reality and fantasy. The filmmakers show water in all its raw beauty, but also as a malevolent force. If you want to know what it’s like to ride Hurricane Irma as it pummels Miami, you’ll find out here. And Eicca Toppinen’s immersive, intrusive heavy-metal score won’t calm your nerves — nor, for that matter, will nature’s own crashing, thrashing sound design. As the cameras travel through places as far-flung as Scotland, Mexico, Portugal and Greenland, there’s no losing the awareness of a larger, far more imposing climate-based threat.” - Rolling Stone