The Last Descent

So let's get this out of the way: it's not a high-quality movie. So don't watch it if you're interested in skillful filmmaking. Acting not great, writing not great, etc.

What it *is* is the only available cinematic retelling of the Nutty Putty Cave tragedy. So if you're interested in that sort of thing, you probably want to watch it. It helped me get the human element in this instead of just being horrified by online diagrams of a guy stuck forever upside down in a hole.

I consider myself a mini-expert on the event after having read everything I can find on it. There are inaccuracies in this movie, important details they left out on purpose, lots of romanticizing (probably for the sake of the surviving family), a ton of sappy dream sequence filler as an artistic liberty, an inordinate focus on John's courtship with his wife, and they don't even show his death from a third-person POV and the closing off of the cave. They totally gloss over the death part and don't even show the aftermath.

In the end this feels like a B movie commissioned by his friends as a gift to his surviving family, so they can memorialize him in a touching light. And I get that, and it's very sweet.

But if you're a Nutty Putty armchair scholar, you probably wanted something with more substance and less fluff.

I saw this story as a clip on a tv show and did a wee bit of research online to find out the story of what happened. This film is heart wrenching and if you aren't claustrophobic before then that may change by the end of the film. I don't want to spoil the film for those who haven't seen it but it is worth watching.

Based on a true story that happened in 2009, this movie 'The Last Decent' is similar to another movie called "147 Hours" concerning Aron Ralston, but in this film a caver or Spelunker named John Jones who is accompanied by his long-suffering brother Josh, go to Utah to begin exploring an unmapped section of what is called Nutty Putty Cave and Josh gets out safely, but John becomes stuck upside down 150 feet underground. Actor Chadwick Hopson who plays John Jones, is such an emotional character and you feel his overwhelming sense of dread and sadness. The rescue efforts to bring John out to of the hole to be re-united with his loving wife Emily (played remarkably by Alexis Johnson) and the whole scene between John and Aaron(Landon Henneman), is imprinted in your mind. There's a few scenes with Susie (Jyllian Petrie) that are truly heart felt and the Stock footage of scenes from the actual newscast interspersed in the movie make you feel the impact of what actually happened back then. Aaron, and John's interaction wrench your heart. I'm still reeling from this. That's all I can reveal! Please watch this!

Way too Many flashbacks. Took up a third to half the film. Film too long. Ending rubbish.

And this can't all be blamed on being a low budget film. Cccc ccc.

I'm not sure why this film is rated so low. It is not a Hollywood blockbuster, not a Citizen Kane, you can tell its low budget. Regardless, the acting is pretty good, the directing and cinematography are good. It IS difficult to tell a story when we all know the outcome, so it feels a little long at times, but it is otherwise watchable.

The film was made with the utmost respect for John Jones. Aside from the scenes of him in the cave, there are many flashback and dream sequences that make John Jones a real person, not just the "guy who got stuck in the cave."

I will say that I do NOT recommend this film to anyone who suffers from claustrophobia or anxiety. I do not think you will enjoy it, as it will only exacerbate those issues.