3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): Last Breath

2025, Alex Parkinson (a bunch of "documentary" style TV shows like River Monsters) -- download

Well that explains things, in that while watching the movie, it felt more like watching a dramatic version of a documentary, but with no commentary track. There was little to no characterization and the movie was swept along by the tides of the "action", and that action was barely a nod to traditional tense rescue thrillers. And yet I was carried along by what was going on, to the point of going, "Wow, that was 1.5 hours??"

The story is a real life one, where a "saturation diver" (they get stuck inside a compression tank which is saturated with gases, so they can deep dive for long periods of time) is lost due to a rough seas accident, and actually succumbs to lack of oxygen. But even after almost a half hour without air, he.... survived, with no ramifications. Parkinson previously did a documentary on the events, also called Last Breath, which lends some cause as to why it felt so... detailed and realistic. Anywayz, two deep divers, repairing oil pipes in the North Sea are separated during rough weather, and one, Chris Lemons (Finn Cole, Animal Kingdom) is lost when his power & air tether breaks away. The crew of the ship desperately tried to repair their issues, eventually allowing the remaining diver Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu, Kim's Convenience) to recover Chris, and was incredibly surprised when the man started breathing again.

The plot is small, the cast is small, the "action" is limited, and yet somehow, as already mentioned, I felt satisfied with the story telling. There is a great supporting cast all who seemed to be dedicated to giving a good performance without any of those big thriller moments. To me, it says something about Parkinson's directing in that we all, viewer and performers, felt present in the moments. We all have seen movies where it just felt like a camera pointed at someone reading lines. I hope to see him do some more dramatic pieces, though most audiences would not enjoy that this survivor thriller was low on the usual rollercoaster scale of thrills.