‘It’s an anti-adrenaline sport’: inside the dangerous world of freediving

The Deepest Breath, a riveting new documentary on a pivotal partnership in the world of freediving, introduces one of its primary subjects, the world champion diver Alessia Zecchini, in motion, unfazed. One moment, she’s driving a car down a nondescript stretch of the Bahamas, responding to a question from an unseen passenger about mortality. “Honestly, I don’t think about death,” she says in Italian, her native language. “I’m not afraid of death. I’ve never thought freediving could lead to death.” The next, she’s in the water, holding the start position for a competitive freediver, sucking in deep gulps of air that will have to sustain her for more than three minutes.

At the signal, her lithe body shoots down like an arrow. The camera tracks