‘No Limit’ Ending, Explained: Pascal’s Blackout – Why Did He Pass Out During The Practice Dive?

Based on a true story, “No Limit” is a 2022 French sports drama on Netflix which provides us with a glimpse of romance as well. The movie revolves around the life of a timid young girl named Roxana Aubrey, who wants to achieve greater heights in her diving career. But Roxana’s family is not supportive of her dream,  henceforth she decides to quit her studies and escape to enhance her life as a free diver. Here, Roxana meets Pascal and falls in love with him, but little did she know that this union was going to cost her a lot. “No Limit” is based on the life of Audrey Mestre, who broke several records as a free diver. Meanwhile, viewers will get a closer look at Roxana’s world of diving, wherein there lies a tale of love and obsession as well. Roxana’s mother often coerced her to choose studies over sports as her stubbornness would effectuate her to take irrational decisions. 

Roxana met Pascal Gautier on the first day of her training, and she was charmed by his confident persona on the deck. Pascal is a world champion, and he’s got around twenty-five world records. In reality, he is the maestro himself! Together, they experience multiple things while training for the championships. Here, both of them fall in love, and soon they begin to appear in all the competitions as a team. Well, things began to get complicated a bit when Pascal trained for the 172 meters dive, which was 2 meters deeper than the current world record. Pascal is extremely strong-headed and stubborn, and wouldn’t listen to anyone when it comes to his diving career. But surprisingly, Pascal successfully breaks the world record and sets a new standard under his name.

While the duo and their whole team are busy with the celebrations, they are informed that Pascal’s No Limit world record at the AIDA World Championship Porquerolles was broken by another free diver, Alexi Sobieski. Now, Pascal is heartbroken, and his emotions get the best of him. Pascal began to practice more vigorously since he wanted to set a new record as soon as possible. This time he attempts the 174 meters practice, and guess what? As he reaches the underwater level, Pascal immediately passes out and loses his consciousness. Even though the blackout wasn’t that serious, Pascal’s doctor recommended a break from these deadly practices since the heavy water pressure could collapse his lungs completely. But Roxana knew that the matter was out of her hand, and Pascal abruptly left the clinic. 

Here, he tries to lure Roxana into the championships as well. Roxana is God-gifted, and she immediately catches up with the practices. On the other hand, things become a lot more complicated for Pascal’s career since passing out is risky for any free diver. The authorities at the championships refrain him from appearing in any further competitions.  Amidst Roxana’s practice for another championship, Pascal decides to set the plate to 180, and despite all the warnings, he still attempts another dive. This time, Pascal passes out again, distraught with the result. Roxana tries to convince him, but his mind is completely disrupted by the thought of losing. Moreover, the thought that Roxana was speaking in favor of the doctors disturbed him even more. Since diving was everything that he ever wanted in his life, Pascal has dedicated the maximum things in his life to set multiple world records. But by this point, Roxana is disturbed since she couldn’t take him out for a vacation.

As she had never meant to distract Pascal, Roxana wanted Pascal to rest his body for a longer time. So that it adapts itself to all the underwater dynamics. Pressurizing himself could lead him to dangerous situations where his lungs could burst from the overbearing pressure of the water and low oxygen levels can give him cardiogenic shocks as well. Moreover, things take a bad turn for the couple. Roxana is awarded for setting a record of 56 meters, but Pascal decides to leave the spot since Naomi’s win was overwhelming for him. Roxana is heartbroken, and  confronts Pascal for his behavior. It was a very important day for her, but Pascal didn’t blame himself for leaving the ceremony. Instead, he talks about his past and reveals the shocking truths of his childhood.

According to him, Pascal’s father was an abuser, and he often wounded his mother. But he ended up leaving them. Even though it was a happy moment for Pascal, that situation didn’t end well for his mother. She killed herself with an addiction to alcohol, and Pascal was left to be raised by his uncle. He learned diving methods with him, and today he has become the man he always wanted himself to be. This was the reason behind his extreme obsession with diving, and he didn’t want to quit in any way. Moreover, Pascal was ready to lose his life for diving. But this wasn’t the future that Roxana envisioned for themselves. She was ready to leave everything behind just to create a beautiful life and a loving family with Pascal. But Pascal had different thoughts. He would often finalise all the decisions for Roxana’s diving career and allowing him was her biggest mistake. 


Raschi Acharya
Raschi Acharya
Raschi Acharya is a Mass Media graduate and she is currently working and living in Mumbai. From a very young age, Raschi was heavily interested in reading and writing. She prefers to write everything that her mind nurtures her to do as shaping up her imagination is her forte!


 

 

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