From what I’ve learned about saturation divers, not only from the new film ‘Last Breath’ but the documentary of the same title that preceded it in 2019….you’d have to be on a different kind of level of courageous, and perhaps a little nuts, to do that job. Or perhaps a lot of both.
In short, there’s no question how dangerous the vocation is, adding much of the needed elements for one nail biting rescue thriller. The film recounts the true story of Chris Lemons, a saturation diver who, while repairing an oil rig, was without a lifeline, trapped 330 feet below the North Sea with less than ten minutes of oxygen. He spent over 35 minutes underwater before his team was able to get to him.
The result, and I hope I’m not giving away any spoilers (but really, with this being a true, very well publicized story, as well as the subject of the aforementioned documentary, how can it be?) was one of the most astounding…and inexplainable….survival tales in history. So even if the assembly of a Hollywood version of the story were to be flimsy, the story alone would make it watchable. Thankfully, ‘Last Breath’ is a decent piece of filmmaking, complete with the kind of the solid performances and tense pressure you’d expect. I’d go as far as to say that this dramatic recreation breathes new life (pun intended, thanks) into Lemons’ incredible experience.
Lemons is portrayed by Finn Cole (‘Peaky Blinders’), and he’s very, very good in the role, as is Simu Liu (‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’), who plays hotshot fellow diver David Yuasa. But the M.V.P. of the journey beneath the sea, the emotional anchor of ‘Last Breath’ is one Woody Harrelson, playing diving vet Duncan Allcock, who…ironically enough…is the individual who supplies the lifeline or ‘umbilical’ to the divers. And much like the man he portrays, Harrelson is the cool, calming force in this swell of stress.
The question of how you stretch what was essentially a thirty minute situation into a ninety minute film is answered pretty definitively by director Alex Parkinson, who also co-directed the documentary; meticulously. Not a minute during the pre-game nor the wrap is wasted. Every scene in ‘Last Breath’ has its purpose and though the sub-plot of Allcock’s impending retirement and his sadness of leaving his career behind might be bait for soggy, sentimental cheese to some filmmakers, to Parkinson (and Harrelson, for that matter), it’s a nice compliment for the heart rending authenticity of ‘Last Breath’. This one goes deeper than you might expect.