Last Breath review – Hold on tight

Every so often, it’s good to go back to fundamentals. On the film front, one of the genres that takes that advice to heart most consistently is the survival thriller. Even when this special subset of movies throws in loads of explosions and CGI, it’s not about the visual dazzle. The best survival thrillers drill straight through that to the heart of the matter: relatable human emotion, prodding audiences to ponder what they would do in that terrifying situation. Fight or flight? Acceptance of a grim fate, or defiance?

New thriller Last Breath immediately floats towards the top of its genre pool thanks to an understated, always focused approach that makes its real-life tale even more nerve-tracking. Based on the 2019 British documentary of the same name, Last Breath is a narrative remake from Alex Parkinson, writer and co-director of the original film. It centres on a 2012 incident that left saturation diver Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) stranded at the bottom of the North Sea with no lifeline to his support vessel, and mere minutes of oxygen left in his backup tank.

When viewers are used to big companies flushing employees without a blink, onscreen and off, it’s refreshing in Last Breath to see the decision makers on deck do whatever it takes to save Lemons. Even when it seems likely they’re only going to retrieve a body for his fiancé, they persevere, taking risks and overruling their fears. These flesh-and-blood people include the likes of veteran saturation diver Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson), who, stationed in a diving bell below the ship, acts as a handler – AKA Sat Dad – for Lemons and famously ice-cool teammate David Yuasa (Simu Liu).

You may recognise some other faces in the cast as well, including New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis as the ship’s captain, The Witcher star MyAnna Buring as his first mate, and Pirates of the Caribbean’s Mark Bonnar as the vessel’s IT officer. The latter three all have to get hands on with the ship’s systems, shifting to Manual Mode when technology leaves them high and dry.

Speaking of operational matters, apart for the film’s rescue mission, Last Breath provides a fascinating look at the world of saturation diving, which it seems fair to say most cinemagoers will be unfamiliar with. Saturation diving, where divers are pressurised via gasses to match deep sea depths, and stay in pressurised capsules for the duration of their rotation, is a method to maximise work time by avoiding multiple compressions and decompressions. It’s still regarded as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, despite high-tech advances like remote operated vehicles to monitor divers 300 feet down, and all-in-one umbilical cords.

Last Breath is something of a shock to the system. While characters still say eye-rollingly predictable things like “I’m not losing a diver today,” the film avoids the expected exaggeration; the big, showy moments for cinematic effect. Even Harrelson, who provides most of the film’s warmth and humour, is more muted than usual. Demonstrating a surprising fidelity to real life (at least apparently), Last Breath sticks to its low stakes approach. The film centres on the rescue of a single person, and related events take place over a 45-minute period. It has the effect of making an extraordinary true story – no spoilers as to what happened – feel more authentic.

That sense even extends to the film’s epilogue. At first it comes across as deflated after all the tension that preceded it. However, the more you consider the conclusion after the credits have rolled, you realise it too reflects the reality of survival: a return to the mundane that is equivalent to culture shock. And that’s powerful.

Last Breath is in now in South African cinemas, having released on 21 March. Overseas, it made its debut at the end of February.