The "snake-like" underwater robots featured in the film are real products from a Norwegian company called Eelume .
: Reviewers from Projected Figures noted that the film subverts genre conventions by having the female lead, Sofia, rescue her male partner, Stian, rather than the typical "damsel in distress" trope. The Burning Sea (2021)
: During filming, the robots were often controlled by real Eelume employees rather than just using CGI, which added a layer of technical realism to the production. Production & Themes
An interesting feature of the 2021 Norwegian disaster film El mar del Norte (released internationally as or Nordsjøen ) is that the robotic technology used by the main characters is actually based on real-world engineering. Real-Life Robotic "Stars"
: Director John Andreas Andersen used practical effects wherever possible. Due to the pandemic, the crew filmed entirely in Norway, which granted them access to a real oil platform . This allowed actors to interact with authentic environments, improving the film's "visceral" feel.
: The plot is inspired by a real prehistoric event known as the Storegga Slide , a massive underwater landslide that occurred roughly 8,000 years ago off the coast of Norway.
: The film's protagonist, Sofia, works for this real company, and the script was specifically written around what the Eelume robots could actually do.
