Last Breath is an upcoming survival thriller that will take your final breath. This deep-sea masterpiece is directed by Alex Parkinson and written by Mitchell LaFortune, David Brooks, and Parkinson. This true story follows the events of deep-sea divers who fight the furious elements to save their teammates trapped hundreds of fathoms in the ocean’s depths. It gives viewers the chance to see stars Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, and Finn Cole get really wet and make everyone watching hold their breath.
Take Your Last Breath
This film is based on the 2012 diving accident in which diver Chris Lemons’s umbilical cable was cut, leaving him trapped over 300 feet down without heat or light and alone. The event was first made into a documentary film which shared the same title and was directed by Richard da Costa and Parkinson back in 2019.
With a limited amount of breathable gas in a backup tank, Lemons’s every moment could have been his last. Watching this story now remade could leave most on the edge of their seats, but here is a fact guaranteed to push them off them. Parkinson’s new movie uses genuine footage and audio that were recorded during the accident, using the actual divers’ radios, body cameras, and statements from all individuals there.
The original accident took place with Lemons, Duncan Allcock, and David Yuasa in the North Sea. They were part of a crew tasked with deep sea repair work supported by the sea vessel Bibby Topaz along with the Kongsberg Maritime. With the divers in the water tethered to the support vessel, the ship’s positioning system fails. The sea turns rough, dragging the divers under it like worms on the end of a hook.
Scuba vs. Saturation Divers
The single detail that Last Breath highlighted was the type of divers Lemon’s crew. He, Allcock, and Yuasa were saturation divers assigned to work in the deep sea on an oil rig on September 19, 2012. Most people know about scuba divers. They are people who swim underwater using SCUBA tanks which stand for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. They have to be very careful exploring the ocean’s depths to prevent decompression sickness.
Decompression sickness occurs when divers develop dissolved gasses gathering in their tissues due to the extreme pressure of the immeasurable tons of seawater pressing down on them the further down they go. This is commonly referred to as the bends when sea divers have to give their bodies time to adjust to the different pressures of the job. When you have a job that requires multiple dives without the bends, you need saturation divers.
Saturation divers, like Allcock, Yuasa, and Lemons avoid the bends by going deep down, remaining in pressurized environment suits and diving bells. All of these work thanks to tubes and compartments divers stay inside for weeks. They can dive and rise to the sea floor to the ship several times without the bends or problems. The catch is they have to stay in these pressurized environments without leaving them trapped.
Last Breath is Suspenseful Watch
The movie has terrifying moments when all learn they the divers can’t be brought up in time. Then the divers are dragged away from the work site by the ship on the sea surface and divers below; two make it away from the rig however, Lemon’s tether snags and snaps, severing the life-giving supply of oxygen, heat, light, and his communication link to the surface. All Lemons has is a five-minute breathable gas container, the will to live, and faith in his friends will save him.
Last Breath will be released to the public on February 28 but has been seen by a select few already. Without giving any spoilers about this survival movie, it shows three divers having a typical day for those working in the deep sea when everything goes horribly wrong.
It shares with us an unfamiliar, deep environment devoid of sun, light, warmth, air, and everything humans need to survive. It turns into a race against time as crew, coworkers, and friends deal with the harshest reality: death. Last Breath has a great cast, fantastic graphics, images, and just the right amount of reality.
