A few years out from his well-regarded Sweetgrass, Lucien Castaing-Taylor has partnered with Verena Paravel and knocked people’s socks off with Leviathan, a similarly-toned look at challenges endured by an ocean-docked crew of New England fishermen. To a passerby, those terms would, in an instant, raise images of a Discovery Channel show — Deadliest Catch, etc. — but what separates their work from, it seems, almost any documentary about this sort of thing is an eye for the most miniscule of living details and an approach in depicting that’s more “cinematic.” (If you’ll excuse the use of such an oft-misused term.)

The first trailer is a stunner: visually replete, sonically complex, and entirely terrifying for that. As someone who holds a deep, unshakable fear of the water — not just an ocean but, and I’m not kidding, something as simple as a lake — seeing the camera dive under and glide along the surface is more unsettling than, for instance, shots of some masked guy holding a sharp instrument. While I honestly can’t wait to see Leviathan — the word has been outstanding, and this trailer promises an experience that no other documentary bothers to provide — it’s going to be something of an endurance test.

At your own caution, watch the trailer below (via Apple):

Synopsis:

One of the most highly anticipated films of the year, from the directors of Sweetgrass and Foreign Parts, LEVIATHAN is a thrilling, immersive documentary that takes you deep inside the dangerous world of commercial fishing. Set aboard a hulking fishing vessel as it navigates the treacherous waves off the New England coast—the very waters that once inspired Moby Dick—the film captures the harsh, unforgiving world of the fishermen in starkly haunting, yet beautiful detail. Employing an arsenal of cameras that pass freely from film crew to ship crew, and swoop from below sea level to astonishing bird’s-eye views, LEVIATHAN is unlike anything you have ever seen; a purely visceral, cinematic experience.

Leviathan will be released on March 1st.

When looking at this trailer, are you captivated by Paravel and Castaing-Taylor‘s work?