K-141 Kursk, a Russian flagship nuclear-powered submarine, sinks to the bottom of the Barents Sea in August 2000. As 23 sailors fight for survival aboard the disabled sub, their families desperately battle bureaucratic obstacles and impossible odds to find answers and hopefully save them.

Revisiting a real-life rescue mission for a Russian submarine, Thomas Vinterberg’s nail-biting drama stars an impossibly stacked cast that includes Colin Firth and Léa Seydoux. As time ticks on and oxygen depletes, this is a fierce battle between humans and nature, collective will and bureaucracy.