LAST BREATH (2025)

Genre: Thriller/Drama
Director: Alex Parkinson
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole, Cliff Curtis, Mark Bonner, Myanna Buring, Connor Reed, Bobby Rainsbury, Josef Altin
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Rating: PG13 (Brief Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 27 February 2025

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.

Movie Review:

In 2012, deep-sea divers Chris Lemons, Duncan Allcock and David Yuasa were carrying out maintenance and repair work 100 metres below the surface of the North Sea when an accident happened. The support vessel's dynamic positioning system failed which resulted in the vessel to drift through rough waters. The divers were dragged away from the area they were supposed to be working at, and Lemons’ umbilical cable snapped. Essentially, this meant that the poor guy was left in the deep waters with breathable air that will eventually run out.

Fortunately, Lemons survived the accident. Although he had no oxygen for around 30 minutes, the man managed to survive after being located by a remote underwater vehicle and then by his colleague Yuasa.

This is obviously great material for a motion picture. In 2019, Richard da Costa and Alex Parkinson directed a documentary that incorporated footage and audio recorded during the actual event, reenacted visuals, as well as interviews with the individuals involved.

It's probably a great idea to adapt this into a thriller to get even more people to know about the miracle that happened to Lemons. So here’s this feature movie helmed by Parkinson, who co-directed the 2019 documentary, and what better way to leave an impression on audiences than casting well-known actors in the respective roles.

Finn Cole (this one’s for fans of TV series Peaky Blinders) plays Lemons, and the English actor does a fine job portraying a character who loves his wife, is committed to his job, but runs into an unfortunate accident. There are dramatic moments which show the character’s determination to survive the ordeal, and while it is nothing particularly innovative, the sequence does its job of illustrating what might have gone through Lemons’ mind when he was running out of breathable air.

Want someone has played a Marvel superhero? Enter Simu Liu, who takes on the role of Yuasa, who is initially haughty but gradually opens up to his teammates. There’s also the trusted Woody Harrelson who plays Allock, the third member of the team. The character stays in the enclosed bell throughout the movie and does not get into the water, but manages to command the screen in every scene he is in, thanks to Harrelson’s competent performance. Elsewhere, Cliff Curtis (whom viewers may recognise from The Meg and Avatar: The Way of Water) plays the captain who has to call the shots while navigating the vessel in the rough sea.

The movie also gets points with its efficient runtime. Within 93 minutes, the film delivers human drama and gripping underwater sequences, and also successfully sends a message of how strong the human spirit can be. While we applaud the various characters’ determination to rescue a teammate in danger, it is a situation we cannot imagine ourselves to be in. This powerful and engaging story is presented in a conventional way that doesn’t try to be clever, and this lean and straightforward film will remind viewers of survival movies from the 1990s.

Movie Rating:

(A straightforward, lean and tense underwater rescue flick that does its job of delivering human drama and thrills)

Review by John Li