Last Breath (2025), with not much to watch I had to pull one from the bucket list, a very recent one and got to say for what the movie is it didnt disappoint, its a close space movie for the most part and honestly this movie caught me way off guard but in a good way. The whole setup drops you right into this underwater world where divers are doing maintenance work on oil rigs way beneath the ocean surface, these guys are basically risking their lives every day for work and the movie does a really solid job showing you why their job are so damn dangerous without making it feel like a documentary, in FACT there is a documentary about this story that ppl online say its better but this is meant for the big screen so I would say its a nice addition. The cinematography works perfectly here, all dark and moody with these underwater shots that make the ocean feel like this massive black void waiting to swallow anyone who messes up, its way different from those typical blue water movies where everything looks pretty and safe, here the water feels like the main villain more than any shark or sea creature could ever be. What really got me hooked was how they handle the sound design throughout the entire movie, every wave crash, every metal clank from the diving equipment, all those weird underwater noises that make your skin crawl, the theater speakers really pump out this full surround experience that makes you feel like you are trapped down there with them, it does feel suffocating. The way they build tension are slow and methodical, not your usual jump scare horror but more like this creeping dread that builds up over time until you realize how screwed these guys really are when things go wrong, its almost like watching a disaster unfold in slow motion but you cant look away.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14403504/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
Rottentomatoes Rating
[Source](https://tinyurl.com/3dp4rhff)
The acting feels pretty natural too, these actors actually convince you they know what they are doing with all the diving gear and technical stuff, Woody Harrelson plays this experienced diver mentor role without falling into his usual quirky character habits, more serious and grounded than what i expected from him. Finn Cole as Chris Lemons brings this vulnerability to the role that makes you care about what happens to him, especially when you find out this is based on real events that actually happened to the real Chris Lemons back in 2012 off the coast of Scotland. The guy gets trapped 300 feet underwater with no oxygen supply when a storm hits and messes up the diving bell positioning system, sounds like a nightmare scenario but the movie makes you feel every second of that terror. Simu Liu plays Dave the other diver and does a great job showing this professional who knows his job inside and out but also has to deal with impossible decisions when everything starts going wrong, his character development from someone who seems cold to someone willing to risk everything for his teammate feels earned rather than forced.
[Source](https://tinyurl.com/3dp4rhff)
[Source](https://tinyurl.com/3dp4rhff)
The story itself aint too complicated but it works well for what they are trying to do, its basically about teamwork and how these divers gota communicate and think fast when disaster strikes them deep underwater but I do have to say that the pacing can drag at times especially in the middle sections where they are just showing you the daily routine stuff but it helps build up that feeling of how routine is on such dangerous work becomes for these guys until something goes horribly wrong, then suddenly every little detail matters because their lives depend on following protocol exactly right, this aint Mario Bros that you get extra life, one mistake and you gone. They keep the technical diving details simple enough so regular folks can follow along but detailed enough to make you understand the real risks they face every day working on these offshore platforms. The movie manages to balance hollywood drama with enough realism to make it feel authentic instead of over the top fake, you never get the feeling they are making stuff up just to create more excitement, well lets put it this way, Im no expert diving so at least thats how I fell, I know there is a professional diver out the reading this post and saying it aint like that and its ok.
[Source](https://tinyurl.com/3dp4rhff)
[Source](https://tinyurl.com/3dp4rhff)
Some of the CGI effects look a bit rough especially during a few of the storm sequences that felt kinda cheesy compared to the rest of the movie but the practical underwater filming and real diving footage helps balance things out nicely. The writing has some clunky moments where the dialogue feels forced or rushed, like they needed to hit certain plot points but didnt have smooth transitions to get there but the emotional weight of the situation and the strong visual storytelling carries the movie through those weaker writing moments if you are into dark and tight spaces like you are suffocating, I love it tbh. There are definitely some Hollywood touches thrown in to make things more dramatic than real life probably was but it never goes so far that you stop believing what your watching could actually happen to these guys doing this incredibly dangerous job. The underwater sequences are terrifying in the best possible way, when Chris gets separated from his lifeline and has to find shelter in this tiny diving bell hundreds of feet below the surface with limited air supply, the claustrophobia is intense, very similar when you ever watch an astronaut get far far away in space movie its just as shocking. The movie does a great job making you feel how disorienting it must be down there in the dark cold water where you cant see more than a few feet in any direction and every sound could mean life or death, basically its the way they show his oxygen levels dropping and the carbon dioxide building up in his makeshift shelter creates this ticking clock tension that never lets up, you find yourself holding your breath during some of these scenes and grabbing the coauch arm hard waiting on whats going to happen, fkn intense.
The real Chris Lemons survived 34 minutes underwater without any air supply, I had to look this one up and its fkn insane what he did, sounds impossible but apparently happened thanks to the cold water slowing down his metabolism and some other factors that scientists still dont completely understand, its just crazy stuff. After finding this out I got to say some how the movie is very realistic about this miraculous survival in a way that feels believable rather than like some Hollywood magic, they dont try to over explain it they just show you what happened and let you decide how to process it. The ending where you see the real people this story is based on adds extra weight to everything you just watched, knowing these are real folks who went through this nightmare makes the whole experience hit different.
The ending kinda drags on longer than it needs to with this extended sequence showing the rescue operation from multiple angles, while its cool to see all the technical details of how they managed to save Chris it feels a bit like extra time that takes away from the dramatic conclusion they just built up, its like they build up all this story and then try to mansplain it tbh. Overall though Last Breath gives us a solid experience that sticks with you about how terrifying it can be to work on such dark spaces deep on the sea, its a movie that makes you respect the incredible risks these deep sea workers take and the courage it requires to do that kind of work every single day, so even though if this was not a movie and didnt depend on acting, basically a documentary, the movie does bring to your face "respect the diver", the fact that its based on true events makes everything more impactful because you know people actually lived through this terror and came out the other side, imo definitely worth watching even if its not perfect, I would give it a solid 7 out of 10, good for people who enjoy slower paced survival stories with heart and real world stakes. Honestly it might not be the best if you want fast paced action thrills but if you want a more kinda raw story with impressive dark scenarios deep on the dark sea and the silence that gives you chills and that shows real human courage under extreme pressure this one delivers the goods. The movie proves you dont need monsters or explosions to create genuine tension, sometimes the scariest thing is just being trapped in a situation where nature and machinery can kill you in seconds if anything goes wrong.
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