The plot of the film “Apnea” is as follows: Roxana falls madly in love with Pascal, who is a master of free diving. He slowly introduces her to the secrets of this deadly sport, which over time becomes her great passion. Following in the footsteps of her beloved, she wants to break new records and together they take part in extremely risky competitions organized in various corners of the globe. Roxanie is doing great – she breaks new boundaries and outclasses the competition. At the same time, she is “completely absorbed in this passionate affair.” “But where will it lead her?” – we read in the official summary of the production, which can be seen in Poland from September 9, 2022.
Diver Sues Netflix Because ‘Apnea’ Insinuates He Killed His Wife
Famous French diver Francisco “Pipín” Ferreras is not happy with the tone of “Apnea” and has filed a lawsuit against Netflix. As reported by “”, the lawsuit accuses the streaming platform, production company Nolita Cinéma and writer-director David M. Rosenthal of defamation and invasion of privacy.
The athlete believes that “Apnea” contains veiled reports about the events and circumstances of the tragic death of his wife in 2002. Record-breaking freediving Audrey Mestre died in the Dominican Republic when she tried to descend to a depth of 171 meters. The air balloon that was supposed to bring her quickly to the surface of the water did not work – she was 28 years old at the time.
“Apnea” appeared on Netflix in September 2022 and for the first two weeks after the premiere it was one of the most watched non-English titles of the platform. The problem is that it shows the relationship of the main characters as a turbulent and toxic relationship. Pascal is jealous of his partner’s success and finds it hard to accept that she is doing better than him. The information that the plot is based on true events certainly also works on the imagination of the viewers. What’s more, in one of the erotic scenes, Pascal chokes Roxana, and later it turns out that both of them are unfaithful to each other, which leads to a confrontation before a fatal immersion.
Even worse is the scene where Pascal checks something on Roxana’s air tank just before she goes underwater, although the equipment has been checked before. There was a strong suggestion that he had sabotaged it so that Roxana wouldn’t have enough air to surface.
The film was consulted with lawyers
In Ferras’ lawsuit, it can be read that the creators of “Apnea” decided to deliberately defame him for dramatic effect and show in their production that he murdered Audrey by sabotaging the equipment that was supposed to help her emerge. The lawsuit states that “in fact, Audrey’s death was an accident and Ferras risked his own life in a vain attempt to save her.” Nurek accuses the filmmakers that although they try to hide behind the formula that the story is fictional, at the same time there is a striking similarity between the film and his life.
He emphasizes that the maneuver with Audrey’s photo at the end and a vague reference to the circumstances of her death is also very suggestive of his guilt. Ferras accuses the filmmakers of not contacting him, and is also indignant at the suggestion that his wife was cheating on him – “Audrey was an angel”, emphasizes the diver. The diver demands, among other things, that anything suggesting that he killed his wife be removed from the film.
Shortly after the accident, a documentary was released in which the creators were critical of Ferras and emphasized that safety procedures were not properly taken care of during the dive. The diver’s former business partner, Carlos Serra, published a book denouncing Ferras and blaming him for Audrey’s death.
The diver invariably maintains that it was an accident and has also written his own book about the incident and plans to release a documentary. Moreover, at one stage he wanted to film the story and collaborated with Francisco “Pipín” Ferreras on it, there were rumors in the industry that Audrey was to play
Director David M. Rosenthal, in turn, said in an interview with “”, that “Apnea” was consulted with lawyers even before it went into production, so it seems that Ferras will not win much in court. – It is a fictional story based on events that were well known to the public through articles, documentaries or books. I created a fictional story with fictional characters. I’m sure Ferras is just trying to get something for himself and get money out of it – we read in his statement.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
