“Last Breath” is the harrowing true story of a deep-sea diving accident. Our JP reviews documentary-turned feature film, starring Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole, and Cliff Curtis.
Last Breath
Focus Features
- Directed by Alex Parkinson
- Written by Mitchell LaFortune, Alex Parkinson, David Brooks
- Based on Last Breath by Alex Parkinson, Richard da Costa
- Produced by David Brooks, Paul Brooks, Hal Sadoff, Norman Golightly, Jeremy Plager, Stewart le Maréchal, Al Morrow, Anna Mohr-Pietsch
- Starring Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole, Cliff Curtis
Studio Synopsis:
A heart-pounding film that follows seasoned deep-sea divers as they battle the raging elements to rescue their crewmate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface. Based on a true story, “Last Breath” is an electrifying story about teamwork, resilience, and a race against time to do the impossible.
J.P.’s Take:
I didn’t realize, at first, that “Last Breath” is a feature film based on the 2019 documentary with the same title. The documentary is directed by both Alex Parkinson and Richard Da Costa, while the feature film is Parkinson’s solo feature film debut. However, the driving force behind the feature film is that veteran actors create a more dramatized and heightened experience.
Knowing very little about the incident or the narrative, I was intrigued enough to dive into this harrowing ordeal. It tells the true story of a diver / pipefitter, whose job it is to insure miles of gas pipeline are maintained and repaired properly. As the beginning of the movie specifies, it’s one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. We find out why, as we’re swept into every diver’s nightmare.
As a raging storm and crashing waves above throws the diver support vessel Bibby Topaz into a tizzy, divers Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson), David Yuasa (Simu Liu) and Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) are setting down to begin maintenance at the bottom of the North Sea. When the support ship’s DPS (dynamic positioning system) fails, this puts the crew and divers in immediate danger. The crew aboard the support vessel had to act fast to save themselves as well as the divers below, when the unimaginable happened. Chris, who is new to the company, is left stranded at the bottom of the vast sea. As Chris is fighting to stay alive, his oxygen is quickly running low and could become a fatality if no solutions are found.
Clocking at just 1 hour and 33 minutes, the film nearly gave me a panic attack. Even though I love many aspects of ocean life, I can’t imagine being trapped deep down in the black cold vastness of it. This is the type of thriller / drama that requires no frightening sea monsters rising up to devour our protagonists, nor alien interference of any kind. Just sheer dramatics and practical scare tactics is all that’s needed. And as I sat there just as helpless as Chris was, I pondered on how the real incident may have taken place. However, it all played out quite cleanly and almost conveyor belt-like, as quickly as a problem would arise, so would a pertinent solution come about. But I didn’t really have a problem with that, as it appeared the crew has the proper training in such events as this. The only point of mystery that remained for me was will Chris survive and if he did …would he live a healthy normal life once again.
It is recorded as one of the most serious accidents in the saturated diving industry of 2012. So what better to draw out those moments than with this feature film, which also intersplices actual footage from the documentary as well. This gives it a much more realistic and chilling element than many other Hollywood productions.
The film was also minimalistic in its approach: no flashy over the top special effects or wild shots to be seen. Doing those special effects in this film would have been quite the distraction and detracting from the human story.
Once it was over, I felt a sense of relief and my muscles eased up and the spell of panic waned. I will have to view the documentary in order for me to dive deeper into the incident, by those who were interviewed, to gain its full effect.
I was surprised with “Last Breath” and how much the thought of what happened stayed with me after leaving the theater.
Official Site: Last Breath
