Falling under the "so unbelievable, it's gotta be true" category, LAST BREATH details one of the most extraordinary undersea rescues in history.
Based on the 2019 documentary with the same title and delivered by that film's director, Alex Parkinson, it's a heart pounding ride into the depths.
We meet a crew of deep sea divers in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland, taking on one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet.
They work on the ocean's floor, taking four days to adapt to the ever increasing pressure before they can don a suit and work on the massive pipelines and cables on the bottom.
Four days to get to the ocean floor, four days to get back to the surface, there is no way of changing the clock.
Chris Lemons (Finn Cole from "Peaky Blinders) is one of the youngest crew members. We watch as he and his wife talk about decorating their brand new home. She's clearly worried every time he leaves for another 28 day stint below the surface. He assures her there's nothing to be concerned about.
Chris arrives at his ship, knowing that he's diving again with his long time mentor Duncan (Woody Harrelson), a seasoned vet who announces after the doors are sealed that this is his last voyage. He's being forced to retire by the company.
The new member of their trio is Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu) a no-nonsense and apparently no-humor diver whose sole focus is the job. He's an odd fit with the jovial Chris and Duncan.
The film does a great job establishing the basics of the dive and the job at hand, without drifting into boring exposition or getting buried in the technical aspects of the intricate details.
As the trio get ready to submerge, their huge mother ship finds itself in a storm that grows larger, huge waves smashing into the hull and over the deck. Modern stabilizers keep the diving platform stable.
Chris and Dave depart the submersible and begin their work on the structures built on the seabed. Tragedy strikes when the stabilizing and navigation systems on the ship above fail, pulling the divers across the floor.
Chris and Dave face terror as they are forced to make a survival plan in seconds.
As Captain Andre Jensen (Cliff Curtis) takes manual control of the main ship, he and his team scramble to find a solution.
Far beneath the surface, Chris's lines are severed and he's left with minutes of oxygen.
What follows is a suspenseful, well paced tale of survival, heroism and commitment. The fact that this is a true story becomes more and more startling as the film unwinds.
Harrelson, Liu and Lemons are all first rate actors and the emotion of the situation hits you square in the chest.
Top side, Curtis (Avatar: The Way of Water, Doctor Sleep) owns the screen as he faces impossible odds to find a solution,while trying to manually control his vessel in the huge storm.
What happens is astonishing.
It defies logic and any probability, just like life.
There are moments that reminded me of "The Abyss", one of my favorite James Cameron films.
Paul Leonard-Morgan's music is a great co-star, it sounds like the ocean depths feel. Dark, foreboding and all around you. Great score.
At the film's conclusion, you see actual video of the real men portrayed, making the ending even more stirring.
Harrelson is always so good, I feel like we take him for granted as one of our best American actors. His ability to play such a wide swath of characters is a gift that is too easy to overlook. As Duncan, he carries the weight of the ocean & responsibility brilliantly.
LAST BREATH is guaranteed to take your breath away. Good luck searching for it for the final hour. Parkinson's work on the original documentary has bled into every frame of this Hollywood retelling, crafting one of the most inspirational survival tales I've ever seen. It gets an A.
Comments