Last Breath (2025) review

Dir. Alex Parkinson

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★½

Documentarian Alex Parkinson was clearly so inspired by the story of deep-sea diver Chris Lemons’ unlikely survival that he felt compelled to turn the documentary he co-directed into a narrative feature. Last Breath (2019) brought Lemons’ story to the mainstream. One of three divers part of a deep-sea mission to repair damaged pipeline, Lemons was rendered unconscious at 300 feet below sea level after his umbilical cable was severed. He was trapped without heat and light, and with only bare minimum oxygen from his backup air-tank.

Now, we have Last Breath the narrative remake, a decisively middle-of-the-road potboiler that shows directorial craftsmanship and the occasional burst of intensity. Having not seen the documentary, I’ll make the assumption that added context from Lemons’ fellow divers and supervising crew filled in the gaps to tell a more human story. This is a film admirably devoted to the rescue of Lemons, and at a lean 90 minutes, it hardly has any time to give a window into the men involved.

A more compelling and memorable film could’ve been made by expanding upon the final 15 minutes, but getting that dramatic story picked up by an industry that continuously embraces spectacle would’ve resulted in smaller dividends and probably more “alienating” trailers.

Last Breath opens with briskly paced introductions to the three divers, who are about to embark on a 28-day mission to repair pipeline more than 300-feet under the sea. They are the veteran Duncan (Woody Harrelson), the stoic Dave (Simu Liu), and the Scottish novice Chris (Finn Cole), who we at least know has a fiancée (Bobby Rainsbury) at home. Outside of Chris and his spouse, the banter is forgettable, and then the large crew is divvied up into threes and sent down into the depths of the ocean. Early into the mission, the ship loses its propulsion system in a storm and begins to drift off course. Soon thereafter, Chris’ umbilical cable is severed and he is cut off from communication, heat, and most of his oxygen once his spare tank is drained. The rescue mission can’t begin until Duncan and Dave’s vessel is repaired, costing precious minutes that Chris does not have.

The word for Last Breath is workmanlike. The underwater photography, the work of Parkinson, cinematographer Nick Remy Matthews, and first unit director Ian Seabrook, is gorgeous, and even in its darkest moments, the film retains visual clarity. Harrelson and Liu deservedly receive top-billing, but once the rescue is in motion, they are relegated to passive supporting players without much to offer. Harrelson has an astute line about what happens when a diver passes, and Liu suits up to aid in the pivotal dive, but Last Breath spends a lot of time focusing on nameless individuals looking at monitors, controlling dials, and signaling others via headset.

Back to the third act. The closing minutes of Last Breath suggest the real meat of the story could’ve supplemented the back-half of the picture. There’s passing dialog about survivor’s guilt, the pressure of disappointing a loved one, and of course grappling with the thought of going back to the job that nearly killed you. There’s a PTSD-angle to be explored, but the trio of writers keep things, for lack of a better term, so on the surface that there’s little worth remembering despite a remarkable story being told.

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole, Cliff Curtis, and Bobby Rainsbury. Directed by: Alex Parkinson.