Thirteen Lives

THIRTEEN LIVES (15)

D: Ron Howard

MGM / Bron / Imagine / Magnolia Mae / Storyteller (Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Karen Lunder, William M. Connor, P.J. van Sandwijk & Gabrielle Tana)

UK/US 🇬🇧🇺🇸 2022

147 mins

Drama/Biopic/Adventure

W: William Nicholson

DP: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom

Ed: James D. Wilcox

Mus: Benjamin Wallfisch

Viggo Mortensen (Richard Stanton), Colin Farrell (John Volanthen), Joel Edgerton (Richard Harris), Tom Bateman (Chris Jewell), Sukollawat Kanarot (Saman Kunan), Pattarakorn Tangsupakul (Buahom)

Thirteen Lives is based upon the true story  of the 2018 Tham Luang Cave Rescue, where a group of twelve boys and their football coach who become trapped in a cave in northern Thailand when the monsoon season arrives prematurely, flooding the network of caves and cutting their escape route off.

With even the most experienced divers finding difficulty locating them, a race against time transpires to bring them out safely before the caves flood further or their dwindling air supply expires.

The film sees a return to form for director Ron Howard after a few disappointments, and though it was released straight to Amazon’s streaming service due to their acquisition of MGM’s catalogue, it did have a limited run in cinemas.

The performances from the entire ensemble are impressive, with most of the narrative cantering around Colin Farrell & Viggo Mortensen as a pair of experienced British divers with extensive knowledge of the caves. The real star of the show however are the technical aspects of the film, such as the cinematography, editing, visual effects and sound design.

7/10