Focus Features brings us the real life miracle story in Last Breath. Under the direction of the  filmmaker, Alex Parkinson. The perfect candidate to bring the feature film to screen after co-directing with Richard da Costa the Last Breath documentary in 2019. The story is about a group of saturation divers, Chris Lemons (Finn Cole, “F9: The Fast Saga”), Dave Yussa (Simu Liu, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) and Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson, “The Detective”) conducting their high-risk jobs in the North Sea. However, due to a technical issue the umbilical cable attached to Lemons gets blocked from oxygen, communication and energy. Yussa and Allcock are the only hope to avoid providing a box of left behind personal belongings to his fiancee, Morag Martin (Bobby Rainsbury, “Fifth”). 

The Synopsis 

A heart-pounding film that follows seasoned deep-sea divers as they battle the raging elements to rescue their crewmate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface. Based on a true story, Last Breath is an electrifying story about teamwork, resilience, and a race against time to do the impossible.

I found it hard to wrap around the idea of someone surviving under water for 29 minutes without oxygen or heat. It is just unexplainable. In addition to the return to a dry surface and start breathing on your own without recollection of having been out for that long. Then being able to walk off a ship without a trace of being unconscious for that time period makes for the second miracle. 

As I watched Last Breath I couldn’t help but hold my breath at times as if that was going to help Lemons survive, haha…I was so absorbed in all the characters’ emotions determined to not give up. Cliff Curtis played the emotional strain as Captain of the ship with a straight facial reaction with only his eyes giving away the worrying sentiment. I enjoyed Harrelson’s portrayal as humble and prudent. I wish Simu Liu’s character of Dave Yuasa had been more friendly, but is fairly explained with private actions to use the “only here for business” face a reflection of staying focused. Finn Cole did an awesome job in this film. I hope people viewing walk away feeling thankful to be breathing and thankful to not have a high risk job because miracles like in Last Breath are usually just seen as fiction on screen. 

Last Breath is now in theaters. 

Source: LRMOnline, Focus Features