I walked into “Last Breath” without realizing it was a dramatization of a 2019 documentary about a real-life deep-sea diving disaster. For the first 30 minutes, I found myself questioning the film’s approach – was this supposed to be a character study? A technical thriller? Why were these men risking their lives 330 feet below the North Sea surface with so little backstory? And what was this bizarro job that requires you to plunge to the bottom of the North Sea???
Then it clicked: Last Breath wasn’t trying to be The Abyss or Deepwater Horizon. It’s a straightforward recreation of actual events that happened to real divers in 2012, and once I adjusted my expectations, I found myself completely gripped by the unfolding crisis. (I did still hold out hope for water aliens to make an appearance until the very last few minutes… but come on… The Abyss was amazing!)
The setup is deceptively simple: Finn Cole plays Chris Lemons, a relatively green diver who joins veteran Duncan (Woody Harrelson, hardly getting a drop of water on him as the supervisor) and the stoic Dave (Simu Liu) on what should be a routine pipeline repair in the North Sea. When a storm hits and Chris’s umbilical cord—providing oxygen, heat, and communication—gets severed, he’s stranded in pitch darkness with only minutes of emergency oxygen.
What follows is a nail-biting race against time that had me literally holding my breath. Director Alex Parkinson wisely presents the technical aspects of deep-sea diving without much exposition, trusting viewers to piece together the jargon and procedures as they go. The film’s most effective moments come from its understated approach—watching oxygen timers count down and up is more terrifying than any monster movie jump scare.
The performances work well within their limited scope. Harrelson brings his trademark laconic energy to Duncan, though he spends most of the film seated in the diving bell looking concerned. (Still, I was waiting for water aliens to attack him while he sat there…) Liu’s Dave maintains a professional detachment that feels authentic rather than wooden. Cole does what he can with a role that requires him to spend half the film unconscious.
What “Last Breath” lacks in character development, it makes up for in technical authenticity and genuine suspense. The underwater sequences, often filmed in near-darkness with visibility limited to what headlamps can illuminate, create a claustrophobic atmosphere that’s genuinely unsettling.
By the film’s end, I was thoroughly invested in this no-frills survival story. A story where a human being went without oxygen for nearly 30 minutes and survived. Which, in and of itself, is an amazing story. It’s not trying to be anything more than what it is—a faithful recreation of an extraordinary rescue—and on those terms, it succeeds admirably. Just know what you’re diving into before you take the plunge.
Edited by: CY