3.0 out of 5.0 stars
“Last Breath” — released by Focus Features on Feb. 28 — proved to be an utterly nail-biting, terrifying experience through and through. The film is directed by Alex Parkinson, who directed many documentaries including the “Last Breath” documentary, which this film aims to dramatize and translate to the big screen. “Last Breath” stars Finn Cole as Chris Lemons, Woody Harrelson as Duncan Alcock and Simu Liu as David Yuasa.
“Last Breath” does an excellent job of portraying a sense of helplessness and dread, despite the fact that no gore or scares are present. This story manages to be scary while also staying incredibly grounded and real, which in turn makes the horrific situation presented through the film all the more terrifying. The plot centers around deep-sea divers Chris, Duncan and David, who are tasked with reaching the bottom of the ocean to do maintenance on gas lines. When a storm hits and the ship’s power is cut, and they start to drift out of control, Chris is dislodged from his oxygen supply. With dwindling oxygen, Chris must be rescued by his fellow divers in time or drown.
A certain feeling of helplessness can be felt throughout this movie. Seeing the timer on Chris’ oxygen slowly deplete, listening to Chris’ slow breaths as oxygen starts to dwindle and observing the endless darkness around his figure proves to be terrifyingly captivating. “Last Breath” is certainly hard to watch, and that is by design. This is a film centered around losing time, and in that regard, it does its job exceptionally well. Every second feels more nerve-wracking. Every action or cut reminds the viewer just how helpless everyone in the situation is. This is a beautifully terrifying concept, and it is executed with grace.
With that being said, the film could have done a better job of fleshing out its characters. This movie is based on a true story that revolves around one specific event, and therefore it faces a unique problem. Nothing in this movie can really happen until Chris is trapped at the bottom of the ocean, meaning that none of the characters can really grow after Chris is separated due to everything being so time–sensitive with the main plot. We get to see the journey out into the ocean, then observe Chris missing his wife — which gives him a bit of relatability and ties his character back to life outside the submarine — yet past that, Chris doesn’t really get anything to work with besides panic.
This movie did set up some interesting characters in Duncan and David, yet they never got to the point of being fully fleshed out. Duncan’s desire to not be let go of his job despite his older age was interesting, yet after Chris falls to the bottom of the ocean, this plotline is forgotten about until the end of the film. David’s character was by far the most compelling, and that is due largely to Simu Liu’s acting. His portrayal of the mostly silent, antisocial and sarcastic diver proves to be very compelling when his emotions are forced out due to a life being on the line. Seeing him grapple with the idea of losing a kid on the job and seeing his determination to help Chris despite knowing the odds of his survival were next-to-none was beautiful. This was by far the best part of the film.
The cinematography in this movie is a mixed bag. Throughout the beginning of this movie, the shots felt very standard. They were certainly nice and cleanly composed, yet they lacked any semblance of personality. Some of these shots felt ripped straight out of a stock video. The claustrophobia of the close-quarters pod the divers were in was largely uncaptured directorially. This movie’s job was to capture and dramatize the feelings the divers experienced, and yet it felt safe and predictable.
That’s not to say that the cinematography didn’t have its great moments. The scenes underwater were absolutely fantastic. The darkness, the pop of the occasional flair used to signal the other divers, the utter scale of the ocean and so many other aspects of aquatic life were all completely on display here and really served to further immersion. Once the focus shifts to the divers doing their jobs, the cinematography improves tenfold.
The sound design is, by far, the thing that could have used the most improvement. Especially with this type of movie, where all the characters are either lodged in a tiny capsule or trapped at the bottom of the ocean with limited sight, good audio design is a necessity. Yet, the film’s audio didn’t elicit those feelings. The music was also way too much, to the point where it would drown out some of the dialogue. There were some decent moments of silence when Chris was trapped at the bottom of the ocean, yet they never lasted long. You never really get a sense of the true scope of these places, which is a real shame because they would almost certainly push the very palpable tension to new heights.
Overall, “Last Breath” does a great job of making you feel the tension and urgency. While its cinematography and sound design could have been improved, both areas do their job well enough and make the viewer feel something. This film isn’t perfect, but it accomplishes what it aims to do in dramatizing a documentary for the big screen.
