True story survival thriller Last Breath reviewed at The Light Cinema, Wisbech
Film review: Last Breath (12A) - seen at The Light Cinema, Wisbech
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole and Mark Bonnar
Director: Alex Parkinson Run time: One hour, 33 minutes
This true story following deep-sea divers as they battle the raging elements to rescue their crew mate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface kept me right on the edge of my seat.
I was also biting my nails, clenching my fists and grinding my teeth as I watched this terrifying ‘real-time’ thriller play out.
The story centres around Chris Lemmons (Finn Cole), a rookie diver who has joined an experienced team maintaining gas pipes up to 1,000ft under the ocean.
At the start of the movie, captions on the screen tell us this is one of the most dangerous jobs on earth. The happy scenes between Chris and his fiancee before he sets off for the mission and then meeting up with crew mates - the jovial Duncan (Woody Harrelson) and the serious Dave (Simu Liu) - are merely preludes to the disaster we know is surely coming.
As the huge ship sets out on to the stormy North Sea from Aberdeen, with the divers below in their compression chambers, we are introduced to the mission supervisor Craig (Mark Bonnar) - and I realise the film now stars three actors whose work I have hugely enjoyed before.
Everyone knows Harrelson from his many movies over the years, but I’m also a fan of Peaky Blinders and enjoyed Cole’s portrayal of Michael in the period crime drama from 2014-22. And then there’s Bonar, who I was recently introduced to while binge-watching the excellent Scottish series Shetland.
There’s not much scope for great acting in Last Breath, but Cole, Harrelson and Bonnar, plus Simu Liu - who I do remember from a brief cameo as a ‘rival Ken’ in Barbie - are thoroughly authentic as the mood changes from the calmness of another job to the disaster and drama of a daring and unique deep sea rescue.
I obviously won’t spoil the ending, only to say it gets your heart beating and it’s pretty unbelievable - although, of course, true.
By Jeremy Ransome
Rating: 8/10
