Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy (Mimi deGruy, 2019): USA

Reviewed by Josh Velazquez. Viewed at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

One of the most heartfelt movies I’ve ever seen. I got to know Mike DeGruy without even knowing him. This film shared what he saw and what he wanted for the future. This film was a small recap of what Mike’s life was. We get to see how much he did for seas life and how we perceive it. He wanted to explore what never before has been explored. He loved what he did with such a passion and it was an honor being able to see and share what he adored. What a perfect way to start off the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

This movie was the perfect way to start because it shows why people make films in the first place. Because that’s what they love and that’s what drives them forward to keep going and to keep pushing the limits, as Mike did. In the documentary, it said how he survived a shark attack, and he knew it happened because he had messed up. So following that event, he went back into the water with sharks to prove they aren’t bad, they just act in self-defense. This goes to show how courageous Mike was and to what extent he would go to show that the ocean shouldn’t be scary.

This documentary of Mike brought out who he was as a person and it showed us the type of person he was and what he lived for. We got to know Mike and we saw all the passion he had for what he did all the way until the end. It shows us to keep doing what we love and to not give up but to push the boundaries of what everyone says is possible.