The Sea Inside

PG-13

Released Jan 7, 2005

2 hr. 5 min.

Biography

Drama

List

85%

133 Reviews

Tomatometer

92%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Ramón Sampedro (Javier Bardem) is a Spanish ship mechanic and part-time poet who is left a quadriplegic after a diving accident. This film tells the true story of Sampedro's 30-year battle for the legal right to end his own life. He develops close relationships with his long-term lawyer Julia (Belén Rueda) and his friend Rosa (Lola Dueñas), who tries to convince him that his life is worth living. Despite his situation, Ramon manages to inspire those around him to live life to the fullest.

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Critics Consensus

Held aloft by a transfixing performance from Javier Bardem as a terminally ill man who chooses to die, The Sea Inside transcends its melodramatic story with tenderness and grace.

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Films On Blast F

Absolutely brilliant all around! No one brings it like Javier Bardem! And this beautiful story is so compelling. A must see

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/31/23

Full Review

sam I

Amazing ! Not only Javier's acting, but the story of one man's life, and his battle to live it as he chose too. The story is told so well, that it is like he is a good friend of yours, and you will want him to succeed, against your hope he doesn't. Very good cast and the settings are equally as beautiful as the story. A story that goes against the norm, and give insight into a man's free will.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/24

Full Review

Taylor L

The Sea Inside tackles the nonfiction fight of Ramón Sampedro to obtain the legal right to end his own life, which took place over 30 years following a diving accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. We mostly see Javier Bardem take on the character in his final years, after Sampedro had decades in his bed to think on his place and come to terms with his environment, so when we see him speak with well-wishers looking to convince him of the beauty of life he mostly responds with well-practiced jadedness. Though the film touches on plenty of melodrama, Sampedro is far from a simple character and Bardem gives him a vibrancy that isn't tempered by the character's wish to die. These sort of personal struggle narratives are ripe for almost exploitative adaptations, with producers seeing award circuit potential in the philosophical debate and the demanding performances (it would only be a few years later that Mathieu Amalric rode his tortured performance in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly to massive acclaim). But the script gives some humanity to a cool discussion regarding mortality, particularly in the ability to depict Sampedro's perspective and emotional depth; a few well-placed visions of soaring through the air before reality sets in makes the main character's emotional state a bit more understandable. Some frustration at his surroundings, rather than just a 'noble quiet', give the situation some heft. (3.5/5)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

dave s

Left paralyzed from the neck down after a diving accident twenty-eight years earlier, Ramon Sampedro (Javier Bardem) seeks only one thing – permanent relief from his endless suffering. Alejandro Amenabar's The Sea Inside provides probing insight into the debate concerning assisted suicide, buoyed by a sensitive script, an extremely persuasive argument in favor of euthanasia, a cast of characters who manage to be easy to relate to regardless of their views on Sampedro's situation, and another solid performance from the always reliable Bardem. Despite the controversial subject matter, The Sea Inside somehow manages to be both heartbreaking and wildly inspirational, sure to touch the most hardened of hearts.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Adam G

Excellent film. Watched it for the first time and was spellbound. Second time it is even better. The nuances of life and human values and emotions are superbly weaved through the film. It's an incredible work of art. The schisms between the beauty of love and the paralysis of illness/paraplegia are wonderfully portrayed. An amazing life-changing film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/16/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Emotional and poignant but at times can be overly dramatic. The Sea Inside is a sad film at its heart but it's also a very heartwarming film that explores the value of life through the thoughts of the main characters and his daily interactions with his family and friends. The cinematography is also a highlight of the film; beautifully showing the Spanish countryside. The downside of the film is the score as it becomes so overly dramatic at times that it becomes very distracting. In addition, Dueñas's character was quite annoying at times and, excluding the ending, I was not fully invested when these two characters interacted with eachother. I watched this film because I was surprised it beat Downfall to win the Best Foreign Language Oscar. I believe it does not come near that masterpiece but it is slightly better than the other film that year; The Chorus. Overall, an intriguing, well-acted and beautifully shot film, sometimes let down by its score.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

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Alejandro Amenábar

Director

Javier Bardem

Ramón Sampedro

Belén Rueda

Julia

Lola Dueñas

Rosa

Mabel Rivera

Manuela

Celso Bugallo

José

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Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

Rated: 4/5

May 13, 2009

Full Review

David Ansen

Newsweek

Can a movie be too well made for its own good? Stylish and painterly, with moments of great lyricism, it flies over the Spanish countryside to the sea...the film does everything in its power to escape the claustrophobia inherent in the story.

Nov 1, 2007

Full Review

Empire Magazine

Rated: 4/5

Apr 1, 2006

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Javier Bardem gives the performance of the year and barely has to lift a finger to do it.

Rated: 3.5/4.0

Sep 22, 2020

Full Review

Sergio Benítez

Espinof

I think that one of the fundamental keys of 'The Sea inside' is precisely to create characters with which the public feels identified from the first second. [Full Review in Spanish]

Apr 15, 2020

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

[VIDEO ESSAY] Alejandro Amenbar's seamless depiction of Ramn Sampedro's battle for his own sense of integrity arrives in refreshing cinematic terms.

Rated: A

Apr 27, 2013

Full Review

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Synopsis

Ramón Sampedro (Javier Bardem) is a Spanish ship mechanic and part-time poet who is left a quadriplegic after a diving accident. This film tells the true story of Sampedro's 30-year battle for the legal right to end his own life. He develops close relationships with his long-term lawyer Julia (Belén Rueda) and his friend Rosa (Lola Dueñas), who tries to convince him that his life is worth living. Despite his situation, Ramon manages to inspire those around him to live life to the fullest.

Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Executive Producer: Alejandro Amenábar, Fernando Bovaira
Screenwriter: Mateo Gil, Alejandro Amenábar
Distributor: Fine Line Features
Production Co: Sogecine, UGC Images, Lucky Red, Sociedad General de Derechos, Himenóptero
Rating: PG-13 (Mature Thematic Material)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Original Language: Spanish (Spain)
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 7, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 21, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.1M
Sound Mix: Surround

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