Thirteen Lives
Based on the true story of the amazing rescue operation to save kids trapped in a rapidly filling cave, Thirteen Lives is a tense drama about the perseverance of humanity in the face of overwhelming odds. Director Ron Howard (Hillbilly Elegy) is no stranger to the disaster rescue genre. One of his best films, Apollo 13, is an excellent example. He’s in fine form here, too, offering an exacting look at just how much effort it took to save the soccer team. Though the film clocks in at a hefty two-and-a-half hours, most of the time flies by as the film ratchets up the tension and stakes with nearly every scene.
Part of the brilliance of the movie is the cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Beckett), who captures exactly how stifling the cave system is. We watch as divers must take their oxygen tanks off their backs and shove them through narrow tunnels, groping blindly around stalactites as they fight the currents. I found myself gnawing on my fingernails instead of popcorn as the divers shimmied through openings barely large enough to fit them.
Verdict: A tense, thrilling survival drama that is more than worth your time.
