O Último Respiro

Back in 2019, director Alex Parkinson made a documentary about a deep-sea accident that happened in 2012, called LAST BREATH. He now has directed a feature film remake of that same accident, using the same name. It features "one of the most dangerous jobs on Earth", saturation divers who maintain undersea gas lines in the North Sea. The story revolves around a diving team as they begin a routine task: the salty Duncan (Woody Harrelson), the cold but focused David (Simu Liu), and the learning sponge Chris (Finn Cole). After an accident, one of them is left stranded with minutes of air left. It now comes down to a rescue or a recovery mission. I appreciated how the movie goes through the detailed process of the job. I also appreciated how Parkinson wasn't tempted to add things to make it a more entertaining movie, it would've felt inauthentic if he threw a random shark in the mix (unless it actually happened). I loved how realistic the lighting was on the seabed. It was dark AF, making you feel properly anxious and claustrophobic. The best parts of this movie are the moments of extreme tension. As the diver is losing air, you realize you also stopped breathing. LAST BREATH is a well-executed thriller that feels like a very "dad movie", if that makes sense. It has great acting and somewhat corny writing, but a had a great time. Remember, don't forget to breathe. It's a privilege.

I liked Last Breath. These everyman blue-collar hero stories have a habit of breeding cringeworthy dialogue delivery and acting performances. For the most part this film strays away from that. The cast is talented. Everyone has been a great supporting actor in another movie. Everyone delivered an effective and convincing role.

There are two great things to take away from this film. First, it does a fantastic job of explaining a line of work and industry I knew little to nothing about. Second, the director and editor have this film at the perfect length. Any longer and I think this would have felt dragged out. Character development was satisfactory, I really did care about most of the people by the end of the film. The pacing genuinely left me in suspense at parts of the film.

It's also worth stating that the casting deserves a 10/10 because Woody Harrelson actually looks like the twin brother of the guy he is playing. Crazy coincidence. I wonder if that's why he chose to play him?

I enjoyed this movie from start to finish. It was tense and well directed. I felt the claustrophobia of the bell, the white knuckle desperation, the clock ticking, and the disbelief when Chris was okay. (It's still unfathomable that he comes out of this unscathed.)

Some other viewers felt this movie was long enough or developed enough. Personally I found the shorter run time to only increase the tension and really highlights how simultaneously fast and long everything takes to unfold. There could have been some more dimension built for the characters, but I don't think that's the story they wanted to tell. I think they accomplished what they set out to and did it well.

This film was fine but just could have been much more compelling.

Obviously the true story being told is incredible and very tense. But the way the film tells the story is just lacking.

The pacing is really odd and the script and acting feels like it's a B movie. The actors are wooden and they seem to have as much urgency and haste as a slug.

The cgi of the ship in the storm is good, and there are some good underwater shots.

It was also interesting to learn that they used some real footage of the real Chris as he was stranded.

I felt the addition of the fiancee just felt clichéd and shoehorned in to try and add more drama.

It's a watchable film but could have been better.

Upon entering the cinema today, I wasn't expecting anything. I just thought, this might be a fun little film to pass the week, till some more big ones release later this month. But after leaving the room, I was utterly flabbergasted. This film was gut-wretchingly tense and kept me on edge throughout the whole screening. These 1h33 felt like 30 minutes at most. Incredible True Story Thriller that won't let go of me for some time probably. Huge respect to all the people, who do this stuff regularly, and I really hope, they get a fortune for each dive, because it wouldn't be worth it if the don't.