Last Breath (2025)
Directed by: Alex Parkinson
Premise: Based on true events. Deep-sea divers repair an underwater gas line in the North Sea. A technical malfunction strands one of the divers alone on the ocean floor with only a few minutes of oxygen.
What Works: Last Breath is similar to Apollo 13 in that it is about specialists working at the top of their skills during a crisis. One of the film’s primary strengths is its technical details. The story alternates between the divers who are about 300 feet below sea level and the crew on the bridge of the boat and each set of characters demonstrates ingenuity, expertise, and quick thinking as they try to find a solution and save the stranded diver. The film has necessary exposition with the characters explaining some of their actions but the dialogue is delivered in a naturalistic way that feels organic to the situation. Last Breath includes a lot of technical details that convey the complexity and danger of this deep-sea dive. The filmmakers pay attention to those details in the way they photograph and stage the action. The film is shot with a gritty style and the underwater sequences look realistic, capturing the coldness of the ocean and the claustrophobic nature of the divers’ working conditions. These details give Last Breath a lot of credibility. The film also benefits from well-defined characters and moments of human warmth. The opening spends quite of a bit of time establishing everyone and their relationships. Chris (Finn Cole) is a newer diver trying to do well and he is engaged to be married and those details add to the drama when he’s stranded. Dave (Simu Liu) is an experienced diver who is initially cold and arrogant but he is gradually revealed to be a softer character. Also impressive is Woody Harrelson as Duncan, who supervises the divers. Duncan is on his last job and Harrelson brings a weariness to the part.
What Doesn’t: The storytelling of Last Breath is a bit padded. The crisis is actually quite brief. When Chris becomes stranded, his air tank only has minutes worth of oxygen so the rescue has to happen very quickly. To make the story feature length the filmmakers add flashbacks and some other details. This material diminishes the urgency of the rescue and Last Breath tends to feel a bit slack and dramatically flat. There is enough at stake to keep the movie engaging but some of the moments that are supposed to be rousing and dramatic aren’t as emotionally resonant as they’re intended to be.
Bottom Line: Last Breath is an overall successful survival drama. The story is padded in a way that diminishes its impact but there’s a lot to admire about Last Breath especially its attention to detail and the quality of the filmmaking.
Episode: #1038 (March 9, 2025)