The Rescue

directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi - 7/10

The Oscar-decorated duo behind Free Solo has debuted their newest survival documentary, chronicling the rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach from the flooded Tham Luang cave in Thailand. A harrowing and adrenaline-filled story, The Rescue surpasses the filmmakers’ previous work by virtually every metric, and it feels much more necessary.

The story told in this film is one of selflessness, of people risking their lives in order to save others. The heroes of The Rescue draw a stark contrast to the protagonist of Free Solo, Alex Honnold, a man who free-climbs El Capitan. After getting to know Honnold, one can’t shake the idea that his passion for climbing is selfish. He jeopardizes his life and goes against the word of all of his loved ones, treating their worries as excessive or burdensome and making himself look like a jerk. In addition to a more sympathetic slew of protagonists, The Rescue also serves as a better display of film structure.

The film is laid out as a day-by-day recount of the events, piecing together news footage, recordings from the rescue divers, 87 hours of video of the operation captured by a Thai Navy SEAL’s wife, and seamlessly incorporated recreations filmed by the divers for the sake of the documentary. The stunning visuals and thorough documentation allow The Rescue to feel less like a film and more like a historical record.

However, directors Chin and Vasarhelyi’s filmmaking style isn’t anything special, and the memorability or engagement purely relies on the viewers’ astonishment or previously-existing fears of the situations that are documented. Their films are far from terrible, but their techniques lack risk and seem conventional, occasionally resemblant of cheap network TV documentaries. This parallel becomes most apparent during some of the drawn-out commentary segments from various talking heads, the weakest part of the movie.

The narrative is populated by first hand accounts from American and Thai Navy SEALs and volunteers involved in the rescue, but mostly by the British cave divers who spearheaded the operation. No commentary from any of the survivors or their families is provided, and its fair to conclude they were not included out of their wishes for their own privacy.

Due to the nature of who is recounting the story, the film visibly tries to avoid a white heroism narrative, succeeding at times but failing at others. There is an occasional feeling of objectification of these children, partially because we don’t get to hear their perspective as a part of the commentary. Because of a lack of actual retrospective from the survivors, the filmmakers have to weave together a backstory for the divers to create an emotional and personal connection. This emotional heart of the film focuses on how their belief in themselves paid off, despite childhood bullying or lifelong criticism for their alternative passion. This backstory seems tame and occasionally laughable when contrasted with the experiences of the actual children of the film, but is also oddly satisfying considering the military is outperformed by these passionate guys doing what they love.

While The Rescue is not perfect, its still an energized and emotional story that is likely suitable for a wide audience. There is rarely a dull moment and, though corny at times, it is a compelling and satisfying story of human achievement and perseverance.

The Rescue was released on October 8, 2021 and is currently streaming on Disney+.