'Last Breath' Offers Some Thrills Among a Familiar Story

Here's a film amongst a sea of other films about rescue missions that do little to thrill an audience but enough to hold their interest. Last Breath is based on the documentary made by the filmmaker of this movie, Alex Parkinson. Having not seen the documentary it's hard to say which is better. For the narrative film, Last Breath is an enticing story about hope when it seems like all hope is lost. It doesn't break any new ground as it's predictable where things will go. A man gets trapped in the deep seas of Scotland and must survive when something goes terribly wrong. It's a story we've seen time and time again. Even with its familiar beats, Last Breath still manages to be a moderately gripping story that inspires hope during a time when we need some optimism.

Last Breath starts by introducing our characters to the audience. There's not a lot of development between the characters before the film's big dive. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as this isn't a movie about everyone's life. Rather, it's a film about saving one. There are more characters with characteristics rather than fully rounded, living, breathing people. The biggest star on the poster is Woody Harrelson, playing Duncan Pollock. Duncan could have used a bit more development. Duncan's the senior deep diver who has a relatable charm but not much more than that. Next is Simu Liu playing Dave Yuasa, a grouchy, unsociable diver who actually turns out to be a big softy. Lastly, there's the film's star, Chris Lemons (Finn Cole). Chris isn't exactly the most interesting character. He's just another guy without much personality. The most we know about him is that he's a good person to his girlfriend, but nothing more than that. Selfishly, I just wanted the film to start with the diving mission going wrong, as the characters in the film can be a bit boring. Luckily, the movie doesn't take long to get its inciting incident going.

The flick introduces itself with a title stating there are 20,000 miles of pipeline spread underwater in Scotland. It's up to the deep divers to investigate and maintain that pipeline, as they have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. The film does a great job through Nick Remy Matthews cinematography in visually detailing how deep the ocean goes. We don't see a sea of blue but rather black. The sound design is also pretty impressive, as the soundscape of the film includes harsh waters blazing through the speakers from inside and outside of the ship. To top everything off is a fine score by Paul Leonard-Morgan. Morgan's score is one with tension-building synthetic and orchestral notes, keeping the audience on edge.

The story is pretty simple. Someone has to be rescued. A deep diving team goes on an exhibition, and Chris ends up being stuck underwater. His umbilical cord connecting him to the ship gets caught and then breaks in half, leaving him stranded deep below the surface. He's so far under the water that it seems like an impossibility to recover him. To some of the crew, they assume that it's a body retrieval. Chris only has eight minutes to spare on his reserve oxygen tank, which runs its course rather quickly. After eight minutes, Chris is without oxygen for a half hour before he's rescued back to the surface. How he survived without being on oxygen for so long is nothing short of a miracle.

This usually would be a spoiler, yet it isn't, as we all know how the story is going to end. If it weren't obvious where the story would go, Last Breath would be a harrowing tale. Unfortunately, the story runs its cord thin as the predictable ending takes away from a lot of the film's suspense. Even with its predictability, Last Breath is exciting enough to keep itself going thanks to its aesthetics and intentional slow space.

Remember that scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey where our astronauts have to replace a malfunctioning part of the ship? It was the slow movement of our characters that made the scene so nail-biting. We don't know if the astronaut will run out of breath or be knocked out into the middle of space. Last Breath incorporates that tense, slow movement that raises the stakes, making us wonder if there's enough time to save Chris. With enough tension and strong aesthetics, Last Breath is an absorbing enough story that will have you rooting for the characters during their retrieval mission.