Last Breath (dir. Alex Parkinson)

by Jack Martin | Mar 16, 2025

Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 93 mins

UK Distributor: Entertainment Film Distributors

UK Release Date: 14 March 2025

WHO’S IN LAST BREATH?

Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole, Cliff Curtis, Mark Bonnar, MyAnna Buring, Bobby Rainsbury, Josef Altin

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Alex Parkinson (director, writer), David Brooks (writer, producer), Mitchell LaFortune (writer), Paul Brooks, Norman Golightly, Stewart Le Marechal, Anna Mohr-Pietsch, Al Morrow, Jeremy Plager and Hal Sadoff (producers), Paul Leonard-Morgan (composer), Nick Remy Matthews (cinematographer), Tania Goding (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A deep-sea diving mission turns into a dangerous race against time…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON LAST BREATH?

Not only has the rather incredible story of deep-sea diver Chris Lemons and his miraculous underwater survival – when he was trapped on the seabed for nearly an hour with less than 10 minutes of oxygen – been brought to the big screen before, but also by the exact same director. Filmmaker Alex Parkinson, who co-directed the 2019 documentary Last Breath, now adapts the factual tale into a much more dramatised feature that attempts to convey the same levels of intensity and suspense through a scripted rendition of the real-life events.

However, it appears that Parkinson didn’t seem to realise that the story of Lemons, as fascinating as it may have been, was always much better suited as a documentary. That’s because in a more scripted format, unlike in a documentary that can take more time exploring the ins and outs of the situation and the long-lasting effects on those involved, the events do not carry as much dramatic heft, leaving viewers more used to a compelling three-act structure and character development a little bit lost by its lack of urgency and even its inability to give anyone a sense of depth. They are left with a movie that may have its heart in the right place, but sadly not much else to justify its existence as a narrative feature.

The film quickly introduces Lemons (Finn Cole) and his fellow saturation divers Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson) and Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu) as they set sail for a 28-day mission to the North Sea, where they’re tasked with a routine inspection of some of the many underwater gas lines. During such a mission, though, their ship malfunctions which causes it to drift away, pulling the critical gas and oxygen tubes from Lemon’s diving suit and trapping him underwater, with next to no chance of him surviving with such little oxygen left. However, when it transpires that he’s still alive, albeit barely, a mission is launched to fix the ship and recover his body.

What the film neglects to do, though, is give a solid enough reason for the viewer to care. It’s far from a low-stakes movie – after all, a young man’s life is at stake – but Parkinson and co-writers David Brooks and Mitchell LaFortune aren’t able to craft a compelling enough narrative over what is, in all honesty, a fairly minor event that ultimately leaves few, if any, truly changed. The events unfold here in such a quick and precise manner that it’s difficult to gage where exactly one is in the traditional three-act structure, and by the time there should be some sort of emotional connection developed between the viewer and the drama, it’s all but wrapped up. There’s hardly a point where it feels as though we’ve been on a true journey with these characters, because through a dramatic narrative lens it comes across as just another day in their lives, which doesn’t exactly make for compelling entertainment.

Moreover, there’s very little to take away from the characters themselves, for despite being based on real people they are given such archetypical roles for this kind of survival film. Finn Cole’s Chris is the young ingenue with a fiancé back home; Woody Harrelson’s Duncan is the aging veteran who’s on the verge of retirement; Simu Liu’s Dave is the surly co-worker who turns out to have a heart of gold; even Cliff Curtis, in a somewhat thankless role as the captain of this battered ship, mainly just stands around looking concerned. At no junction are any of these actors given anything to work with beyond their stock characterisations, and while they do well enough with what they’re given, it simply doesn’t cover how formulaic it all feels, right down to dialogue that they may as well have plucked out from the never-ending abyss of survival movie tropes.

One of the only things keeping Last Breath afloat (no pun intended) is the way that it’s filmed. As he did in the documentary, director Parkinson utilises some striking underwater cinematography to create a rather terrifying atmosphere, with nothing but endless darkness coating the seabed in ways that almost make it look like a horror film, especially as characters slowly wander their eerily pitch-black surroundings with little items like a flare to give them any sense of visibility. The filmmaker also plays around with realistic camera shots, with some scenes taking the full perspective of CCTV footage and audio – some of which feels as though it may have come from the original documentary – to give it more of a docu-drama feel. It’s here as well as in the underwater segments where you do see why Parkinson wanted to turn this story into a more dramatic affair, as he plays up the creeping sense of dread while also showing the regular routines of these divers, such as remaining in a compressed tank so that they can get used to being hundreds of feet below the surface.

But sadly, by translating it into something where key narrative components like character engagement and genuine dramatic stakes are far and few in between, Last Breath struggles to maintain the intrigue of the more factual depiction. A story such as this ultimately isn’t meant for a filmic storytelling format that needs much more than a simple hook to win over viewers, who need a story and characters to latch onto in order to become emotionally invested. The documentary could get away with this because its subjects were real people in real situations, whereas here it feels a lot more artificial and Hollywood to a fault, which ultimately drags it down much further.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Last Breath attempts to dramatise the incredible true story of deep-sea diving survival – previously turned into a documentary by director Alex Parkinson – but is anchored in place by unengaging stock writing that gives little reason for the viewer to care.