They had an oxygen bar stationed in the lobby at the press screening for the underwater survival thriller “Last Breath,” and I have a couple of thoughts about that:
A., I’m glad there wasn’t a similar promotional gimmick tied to the screening of “The Substance” last year.
B. I wish they had wheeled that oxygen bar next to my seat during the film, because there were more than a few times when I had to remind myself to breathe.
Based on a true story from 2012 that was chronicled in the 2019 documentary of the same name, “Last Breath” is an economic narrative told with precision and skill, with only the occasional overly dramatic flourish. Director Alex Parkinson (who co-directed the documentary with Richard da Costa), writers Mitchell LaFortune and Alex Parkinson & David Brooks, and a stellar cast led by Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu and Finn Cole have teamed up to deliver a tense drama that at times plays like a smaller scale, deep-sea version of “Apollo 13.” With a running time of just 92 minutes, “Last Breath” will keep you in its grip throughout. Just remember to inhale, and exhale. Slow, long, steady breaths.
There’s just enough prologue for us to come to know (and like) the main players. In the opening sequence, the low-key handsome Scottish lad Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) is with his lovely and supportive fiancé Morag (Bobby Rainsbury) in their cozy trailer, telling her not to worry, that his job as a saturation diver is just like going into space, but underwater. (Hardly a comforting thought.)
Chris is the relative newbie on a three-man diving team assigned to carry out repairs on a pipeline on the bottom of the North Sea, more than 300 feet below the surface. Woody Harrelson slides into his familiar avuncular-hippie persona as the 20-year veteran Duncan Alcock, who has been told by the company this will be his last dive, while Simu Liu is the laser-focused and somewhat brusque David Yuasa, who cautions Chris not to think about Morag or anything else while they’re on the dive. The job requires all their attention.
With Duncan overseeing things from the diving bell while Chris and David don the scuba gear and helmets and begin their descent, the routine work has only just begun when the mother support ship is tossed around by a massive storm, resulting in a software malfunction and the ship drifting, which snaps Chris’ lifeline. David is able to make it back to the diving bell, but the unconscious Chris is stuck in the dark and the cold, his breathing supply running out.
The remainder of the film plays out in near real time — the underwater photography and attention to detail is impressive throughout — with a ticking time clock first telling us how many minutes of oxygen are left, and then informing us of the grim and horrific tally of Chris’ time without oxygen. The action occasionally shifts to the ship’s command center, where the captain, played by the great Cliff Curtis, must decide what measures can be taken, and what to do if the safety of the entire crew will be jeopardized by the efforts to save one man, who might already be gone.
It’s hardly a spoiler alert to tell you how it all plays out. We weren’t going to get a documentary, and then a feature film, that ended with a young man losing his life at the bottom of the sea. Still, “Last Breath” maintains a sense of suspense throughout, and delivers a powerful emotional impact in its final scenes.
Chris Lemons continues as a deep sea saturation diver to this day. Man. That’s enough to take your breath away.