The Reel Review
Three deep sea divers working 300 feet below sea level on an oil rig in the North Sea face seemingly impossible odds of rescue when one of them becomes untethered and stranded on the sea floor for 40 minutes with only 10 minutes of emergency oxygen. Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu and Finn Cole star in this adventure/thriller based on the incredible, actual September 2012 events.
The shocking story of Chris Lemons’ rescue, captured in director Alex Parkinson’s similarly named 2019 documentary, is the stuff of legends. In this dramatization, Parkinson deftly and realistically captures the technical aspects of the life-or-death incident, despite some corny dialogue and all the expected rescue mission tropes. When the rescue effort gets underway, the pulse pounding adventure/thriller really finds its groove.
The acting performances from Harrelson, Liu and Cole are straightforward and fine enough and at an hour and a half, Last Breath doesn’t overstay its welcome. Actual footage of the real-life divers post rescue is the icing on top of the cake in the film’s heartfelt final minutes.
REEL FACTS
• Chris Lemons is still involved in deep-sea saturation dives at North Sea oil rigs, but these days as a diving supervisor on the ship.
• The film uses the actual underwater footage of crewmembers discovering Chris Lemons unconscious on top of the manifold.
• Last Breath was filmed in Aberdeen, Scotland and Malta.
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