North Sea, Nature Untamed challenges the idea that the North Sea is a bleak, lifeless expanse, using Dutch diver and underwater cinematographer Peter van Rodijnen’s footage to reveal its colour, variety and drama. The review praises the film’s spectacular imagery and eccentric narration, which portray the ecosystem as both beautiful and full of unexpected behaviour.

The documentary shows bioluminescent algae, coral, plankton blooms, hatching sculpin, synchronised mackerel and a basking shark filmed off Scotland. It also highlights environmental concerns, including a 30% fall in a puffin colony caused by overfishing, alongside the return of Atlantic bluefin tuna, absent from the North Sea since the 1960s. The film is less polished than some nature documentaries but compensates with enthusiasm, and opens in UK cinemas on 25 September.