Last Breath is a well-crafted and entertaining true story survival thriller. The quick 90-min runtime both works in its favor and holds it back. The expedited setup leads directly into the immersive, tense spectacle, but missing is meaningful character development among the leads.
Though their performances range from good (Simu Liu, Finn Cole) to excellent (Woody Harrelson). The raw spectacle really does overcome those storytelling gaps via the harrowing and thrilling execution of the underwater filmmaking. The below-the-line craft in this film is of high quality and audiovisually plunges the audience into the icy terror.
The detailed guide of the chronology of the story helps sustain the gripping tension throughout. Though, again, it would have been more worthy of emotional investment had the characters’ identities been fleshed out more (ideally with some more polished writing).
But it’s intense. It’s engaging. I was locked in. I sat up in my seat.
So while a thin script detracts from its potential and impact, Last Breath is taut thriller with an inspiring true story, that does have an enhanced effect on the big screen.
