In 2019, writer and director Alex Parkinson released “Last Breath,” a gripping documentary that told the traumatic true story of Chris Lemons, a deep-sea saturation diver who became stranded in the North Sea with only five minutes of oxygen left. Against all odds, he survived, becoming an extraordinary testament to human resilience and teamwork.
Now, on Feb. 28, Parkinson has released a movie by the same name — but this time, he revisits the tale as a thriller. 2025’s “Last Breath” stars Finn Cole as Lemons, Woody Harrelson as Duncan Allcock and Simu Liu as David Yuasa, but it is essentially just a dramatized retelling of the documentary with a bit more cinematic flair.
“In the documentary, you have a standard set of tools of talking heads and dramatic reconstruction and archive to tell the story,” Parkinson told NBC. “And because this was such a complicated story, because it’s a whole world that not many people really know at all, part of the whole process of having my pass of the fictional script was about how…[to] get that information across in an organic way.”
Before I knew anything about Lemons’ story and saw the trailer for this movie, I expected it to be another sea-themed thriller along the lines of “47 Meters Down” or “Pressure,” but I was completely wrong.
Over the course of about 90 minutes, we watch as the team aboard the Topaz try to figure out how to rescue Lemons from death as fast as possible. Through complicated technology, collaboration and trust, they are able to complete their mission, but it takes a toll on all of them.
Each of these actors gave a great performance. Cole gave off the perfect amount of anxiety and courage, Liu was expertly committed and you can never go wrong with Harrelson. The underwater cinematography — credited to Ian Seabrook — was both uneasy and enchanting.
Seabrook was the underwater director of photography for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “Old,” “Yellowjackets” and “Shōgun,” and all for good reason. His talent is exceptional, and I highly recommend checking out his work.
Complementing the visuals is Paul Leonard-Morgan’s score, which heightens tension and emotion exactly when needed. His music adds weight to the film’s most intense moments, creating an atmosphere that lingers.
However, as a whole film, it was not outstanding. In comparison to its documentary, it lacks important background information, apprehension and intimate moments.
We know Lemons is in danger, but we don’t learn enough about him to feel the full impact of his struggle. His fiancée, Morag (Bobby Rainsbury), barely has enough screen time to establish their relationship’s significance — whereas in the documentary, her commentary and the archival footage painted a fuller picture of Lemons as a person.
This archival footage from the documentary even makes its way into this film, which to me, feels almost lazy. The whole point of turning it into a feature was to dramatize the story, and reusing real footage takes the audience out of the spectacle.
However, as a whole film, it was not outstanding. In comparison to its documentary, it lacks important background information, apprehension and intimate moments.
That is not to say that the real, raw footage is not harrowing — especially the clip of the underwater robot finding Lemons atop the manifold structure, his limbs twitching from lack of oxygen. But I do wish that they took more creative liberties, as it honestly just felt like watching the documentary but with trained actors and wide-shots.
2025’s “Last Breath” is nothing special in comparison to its counterpart, but as a stand alone film, it’s interesting, tense and certainly has its moments. Nevertheless, I do recommend Parkinson’s 2019 version over this one, as it does all of that and more in the same amount of time.
2/5 stars
ajones11@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @starship_coffee, X
