'LAST BREATH' an Effective Exercise in Sustained Underwater Tension

In 2019, director Alex Parkinson released Last Breath, a documentary chronicling diver Chris Lemons’ first descent 330 feet beneath the North Sea. After days of breathing a specialized gas mixture to acclimate to the brutally inhospitable conditions awaiting him, Chris is about to take on one of the world’s most dangerous jobs: repairing miles of pipeline on the ocean floor—the very infrastructure that, we’re told, keeps regular Joe Schmoes warm through the winter. He and his crew expect to be cut off from the air-breathing world for a full 28-day cycle: a few days of acclimatization, long underwater shifts divided among three teams of three, and a final three-day decompression period. But rough seas and a sudden power outage turn their routine work tour into a desperate underwater rescue when Chris’ umbilical cable is severed, leaving him trapped 100 meters below the surface—without enough oxygen to survive until help arrives. Now, in 2025, Parkinson returns to the same harrowing tale, this time adapting Last Breath as a feature film.

Parkinson proves to be an economical storyteller—perhaps to a fault. In a tight 90 minutes, he delivers the story with no excess, relying on the natural drama of the situation to create a largely breathless experience. But Last Breath doesn’t offer much depth beyond the immediate tension. The characters are familiar archetypes—the surly professional (Dave, played by Simu Liu), the veteran leader (Duncan, played by Woody Harrelson), and the anxious newcomer (Chris, played by Finn Cole)—but little more than that.

The performances get the job done, even if nothing here is particularly remarkable. Liu is a bit stiff, Cole is solid but unremarkable, and Harrelson provides the film’s steady emotional anchor. The underwater cinematography is immersive, capturing both the eerie vastness of the deep and the claustrophobic dread of a diver cut off from the world. Once we come up for air though, it’s the power of the true story that will have the most sticking power.

CONCLUSION: ‘Last Breath’ delivers an incredible true story with taut suspense and no-nonsense filmmaking, but beyond its built-in tension, there’s not a ton will will linger. A sturdy, well-executed thriller—gripping in the moment but ultimately a one-time watch.