A 16-Minute Video Of Swedes Agonizing Atop A 10-Meter Diving Board Is Just What You Need

Two Swedish filmmakers paid people about $30 to climb to the top of a 10-meter diving tower and stand on the edge. That’s it: just stand. They could decide for themselves whether or not to jump. The surprisingly watchable 16-minute result is a godsend to anyone who likes watching others agonize over inconsequential decisions.

Maxmilien van Aertryck and Axel Danielson write that the film “elucidates something essentially human, that transcends culture and origins,” which is a real fancy way to say “tag yourself.” It’s not hard to identify a personal spirit animal somewhere among these shook Swedes.

Are you the couple so unwound by anxiety that they begin to babble right past each other, no longer parsing one another’s mouth-sounds as words but just as the mouth-sounds of another terrified person? Are you the older woman who says she “doesn’t have the guts” but maybe actually does? Or are you are the guy who strokes his chin in anguish for several minutes before teetering over, flailing his wings like a shot duck, and teetering right back to the platform? (I’m that guy.)

[ NYT]