| Last Breath is based on a harrowing true story of a deep-sea diver. The film is brought to life by filmmaker Alex Parkinson, who also made the 2019 documentary Last Breath. This is not a particularly well-known incident but Chris Lemons, a North Sea diver who miraculously survived a tragic mishap, has written about and talked about his experiences extensively so it’s easy to find and learn more either before or after watching the movie. | | 2025
Directed by: Alex Parkinson
Screenplay by: Mitchell LaFortune, Alex Parkinson, and David Brooks
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole
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Normally I’m a fan of filmmakers sticking to the true story as much as possible, which is exactly what Alex Parkinson does here. Every moment is pretty much exactly as it occurred and mostly in real time. It’s definitely the fairest way of telling this story, but it can also mean less cinematic.
The opening scene is meant to build up the emotional connection with Chris (Finn Cole) and his fiancée planning their new home while he’s off to sea for a month, but what serves the film the best is when we finally get to the rescue.
A team of three divers (but a crew of a hundred on the ship above) are sent to the bottom of the North Sea to replace a piece of pipe used in the underwater transport of oil and gas. It’s a long journey to the bottom of the sea since they have to stay in these pressure pods for extended periods as they descend. Woody Harrelson stars as Duncan, the veteran of the crew retiring soon, who provides the few witty lines. It seems sort of cheesy at first, but it’s actually another example of the film sticking to the facts. Duncan is there to supervise the younger divers but also keep their spirits up since it’s a very isolating career.
It’s approximately one-third or more into the movie when things go awry. With the ship far above them getting rocked out of position by a storm, Chris and fellow diver Dave (Simu Liu) have to use their umbilical cords – literally called that as they are their connection to life, since it keeps them in contact with the pod and provides oxygen and light – to get back to the pod when Chris’s cord gets tangled and snaps. Sending him to the sea floor and minutes to live without oxygen.
The movie gets significantly better when it’s about the rescue, which keeps getting delayed by the storm that sent the ship out of location but also knocked out their communications, and with each delay we’re reminded how many minutes Chris can survive without oxygen.
The rescue is interesting in addition to being suspenseful. The score over-does it a bit, as well as the film hitting on every tear-jerking moment of the true story – all to no avail. They don’t want you to forget that he’s young and about to get married, but also that’s not what makes the film good. Things like that get heightened more than necessary.
You know what is notoriously difficult to film well? Under water scenes, especially so far under water that it’s literally pitch black. This is the story they’re telling, so there’s not much you can do about that, but an entire movie worth of dark, murky sometimes all black scenes can get tiring.
Overall, Last Breath is made with respect and admiration; you can tell that Alex Parkinson is obviously moved by this true story. The rescue and survival are by far the best parts of an otherwise limited movie with not much going on apart from the astonishing rescue mission which lasted approximately 40 minutes in real time.
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