The Last Descent (2016) User Reviews

Very respectful to John Jones

[RoxyBird · 6/10 · 9 December 2020]

I'm not sure why this film is rated so low. It is not a Hollywood blockbuster, not a Citizen Kane, you can tell its low budget. Regardless, the acting is pretty good, the directing and cinematography are good. It IS difficult to tell a story when we all know the outcome, so it feels a little long at times, but it is otherwise watchable.

The film was made with the utmost respect for John Jones. Aside from the scenes of him in the cave, there are many flashback and dream sequences that make John Jones a real person, not just the "guy who got stuck in the cave."

I will say that I do NOT recommend this film to anyone who suffers from claustrophobia or anxiety. I do not think you will enjoy it, as it will only exacerbate those issues.

Heartwrenching

[kirstin_mcdonald · 7/10 · 5 May 2019]

I saw this story as a clip on a tv show and did a wee bit of research online to find out the story of what happened. This film is heart wrenching and if you aren't claustrophobic before then that may change by the end of the film. I don't want to spoil the film for those who haven't seen it but it is worth watching.

It's like being stuck head first in a cave having religious hymns sung to you.

[nlytnd_1 · 5/10 · 10 December 2017]

It's actually not that bad. As it is, I'm addicted to these survival type movie/shows, like I Shouldn't Be Alive for instance (which they don't make anymore, but it's my favorite). As far as I know I've seen every one of these type of shows in existence. I was expecting a made for TV style production value, but this actually has one of the best production values out of any of these shows and the acting is good. It feels like an authentic movie.

The movie took a chance and went for it, trying to add a more in depth creative element to it and I think it ends up taking away from the movie, as opposed to focusing more on the rescue efforts going on. And I mean by creative element, John regularly zone's out into this dream world. Each time there's this person in the background giving him the stinkeye and we're like, who the hell is this jackhole? We later find out that it's his unborn son, meanwhile he must hate his other kid because he barely gets an honorable mention. Anyways, I couldn't help but think of Happy Gilmore when Adam Sandler regularly zone's out and each time there's the dwarf on the tricycle, which is just super random. At least the dwarf puts us in a happy place, the dude/s who they show (his unborn kid at varying ages) give off a Michael Myers vibe. Shouldn't his son chillin in the background be radiating a warm/positive energy? Is his son angry that he has to grow up without a father and he has a bunch of built up resentment? It's a wonder he didn't beg the rescue workers for coffee and amphetamines to prevent this evil bastard from trying to get him in the dream world.... it's like a bad acid trip.

I had seen a documentary before this in ref to this incident, but it's difficult to conceptualize and the movie doesn't make it any clearer. Perhaps there ins't a way without actually seeing it for yourself. I'm sure rescue workers did everything in their power to free the dude and if there was a way they would have probably figured it out, but in 28 hours or whatever it was it would seem as though one could chisel their way out of Alcatraz. Why didn't they chip around him? Why didn't they douse him in peanut oil like they mentioned at one point? They obviously know what they're doing, I just can't conceptualize it. Another thing that annoyed me which I'm sure they did, I just don't understand why they didn't demonstrate it once during the movie. We/I'm going to pull you, take as deep of a breath in as possible just before I/we pull.

Anyways, it's not that bad of a movie. I liked the discount Ryan Reynolds character who was the main rescue dude. Actually all of the characters were really good... the acting is good. It still had my sucking back tears.

A lot of details missed and others are far-fetched

[martinklisurski · 3/10 · 10 October 2020]

What REALLY happened to John Jones was SO much more horrific. John was basically in a tube, he couldn't see anyone. It took rescuers an hour from the surface to reach John. He was stuck for almost 28 hours before he died. In reality, he didn't just go only with his brother (Josh), he was accompanied by a large group of family and friends. It was intended to be a brief adventure that they can share before the holiday (Thanksgiving). John and Josh had a great deal of caving experience in the past, in their childhood they had gone on numerous underground adventures across the state of Utah. The film should have focused more on those childhood caving/spelunking adventures instead of those boring fillers about his normal until this point of time life. They missed very important details like that the family entered the cave at around 8:00 pm on November 24th, 2009 and everything was going alright for the first like one hour or so. At around 9:00 pm John found what he thought was the entrance to the "Birth Canal", a well-known stretch of the caves so named because of how narrow and tight it was. The passageway which confronted John certainly fitted that description. He squeezed inside and wriggled forward. When the narrow crevice took a downward turn he hesitated only for a moment. The narrow space looked as though it might open out a little bit further down, and besides he was SURE that he was in the Birth Canal - a passage that he KNEW could be safely navigated if he just kept his nerve. Unfortunately, John wasn't in the Birth Canal after all. Instead, he was wriggling headfirst down an uncharted tunnel in "Ed's Push" part of the caves, a tunnel that had never been charted specifically because it was far too small. Unaware of the danger John crawled onwards until he couldn't. John eventually saw a fissure that dropped down in front of him which may have appeared to widen out at the bottom, giving him a spot to turn around. John exhaled all of his breath and sucked in his chest to investigate the fissure and go down even deeper (head first), sliding his torso over a lip of rock and down into the 10 inches (25.4cm) wide side of the crevice but when his chest and ribcage expanded again he was stuck. Instead of widening so, John can get out the crack grew smaller and all but closed. Struggling to free himself only made John slide deeper into an even tighter 8.5-inch section of the fissure, one arm pinned underneath him and the other forced backward by an outcropping of rock. His headlamp was also knocked off. He was stuck head down in an almost vertical passage, the diameter of which was smaller than a front-loading washing machine.

Rescue workers attempted to drill out the rock around John, but were able to widen only one small part of the passage by a few inches, even after hours of labor. The small space they had to work with and the depth that John was stuck also made big equipment impossible and the small tools were not working fast enough and John didn't have a lot of time. The abandoned that idea and THEN they began constructing the pulley system which was actually shown in the movie. At first, it seemed like this tactic might succeed. They were able to raise him a significant distance out of the vertical crevice in which he was stuck, although doing so caused John a great deal of pain. After several more pulls he was high enough that he could actually make eye contact with one of the rescuers (before that he wasn't able to do so unlike what was presented in the movie). When asked how he was faring he said only, "It sucks. I can't believe I'm upside down" and "My legs are killing me". His feet hit the tunnel's low ceiling and with his heart struggling to pump blood in his legs, the contact made him scream in pain. That's when the rescue team came to the horrible realization that the angle of the tunnel meant they couldn't bend John's body backward without likely breaking his legs (which was mentioned in the movie). In his weakened state, the shock could have killed him.

At this stage, exhausted and in agony, as John was, the possibility of escape must have seemed like a very real one. An escape from his confinement, medical attention, praying and singing religious songs, contact with his friends and family... all of these things were so close that they must have been tangible to him. It was at that point that everything went wrong.

As the rescuers hauled once more on the rope something gave way explosively. The rescuer closest to John was hit in the face and briefly knocked unconscious. When he recovered all he could see was dust and darkness. It took several minutes for him to orient himself and work out the terrible realization that John had slipped right back down into the crevice from which they'd been hauling him. A stone arch around which the rope had been looped had shattered, and the next nearest bolt had pulled out of the rock, creating slack in the rope and allowing John to fall. The bolt was what had hit the rescuer in the face and knocked him out unconscious. Only one bolt came off unlike in the movie where every single one did come off.

After the injured rescuer was evacuated from the cave for treatment, a replacement was wriggled into the narrow defile. They spoke to John but could get no response, and could hear that his breathing was labored and shallow. Desperate, they wriggled down into the narrow cave to try and loop another rope around his waist but became stuck themselves and had to be helped back out. A doctor was escorted down into the caves to assess John as best he could. The news was the worst that there could possibly be: John had passed away. Despite a day-long rescue effort involving dozens of workers, the confinement and the inversion had taken its toll. He was declared dead just before midnight on November 25th.

His friends and family were devastated by the news. John was just 26 at the time, fit and healthy and his loss in a cave system considered relatively safe for beginners was a shock to everyone. It was quickly determined that any operation to retrieve his body would be impossibly difficult and dangerous. The landowner, appalled by the incident, initially wished to dynamite the caves, destroying them completely... but was dissuaded from doing so. Instead, the caves were sealed shut with concrete plug, turning them into a tomb for John Edward Jones. A plaque was installed at the entrance to memorialize the final resting place of an exceptional young man, lost way before his time.

In my opinion, the movie failed to deliver on those aspects and should have been more focused on the actual work of the rescue team and their efforts to save John's life instead of putting so many fillers and making the rescue team look incompetent directly so making the movie boring to watch.

Slow-Paced, Emotional Story

[koltonbrett · 6/10 · 10 January 2022]

This movie is inspired by the true story of John Jones. I was unfamiliar with his story of getting stuck in a narrow passageway while caving with his brother in 2009. This movie is a sweet, sad, and surprisingly romantic story. It isn't extremely exciting or entertaining but it is an emotional movie. My wife watched less than 10 minutes with me and still left the room crying. The movie is obviously low budget and some of the acting is not great. But considering what it has to work with, some things are done really well. I'm a little ambivalent about movies where one person is stuck in one spot throughout the whole movie. It's a challenge to keep such movies from getting tiresome. This movie keeps things interesting enough by jumping around between the rescuers above ground, John's situation inside the cave, and the romantic flashbacks with John and his wife. There is also a mysterious figure that keeps popping up in John's hallucinations which creates a little mystery. Some will appreciate this sweet story while others will find it to be too slow. What I appreciated most was the honest dialogue between John and the rescuers who stayed by his side. John felt just like the kind of family man we know from our own lives. He was very relatable which made this story even more emotional.

Messy

[sforrester-3 · 4/10 · 20 November 2017]

This man's story is definitely tragic and I feel for him and his family. In saying that, I'm reviewing this as a film and it's not great. The problem with making a true story film about a person who had a fairly ordinary life until one event happens is that there is not enough material for a full length movie. I had the same issue with 127 Hours. The writers have to find filler and, in this case, it was John's early relationship with his wife and, as someone previously said, a weird Benjamin Button remake with his unborn son. I feel as though if the makers of this had just kept it in the period he went caving and was stuck with perhaps more focus on how he, his family and rescuers were dealing with it, it would have been a more powerful telling of his story. Instead, I spent the first part wondering who the strangely dressed man was that kept popping up. The acting was okay but the underground scenes were confusing and you couldn't really get a sense of what was going on when he got stuck and afterwards. Although it was good that John's story was told, I feel it could have been done better.

Unbalanced but good

[steeleronaldr · 7/10 · 10 May 2020]

This movie actually spends more time showing his life than it does the rescue efforts. His so-called normal life and his attempts at marrying his wife get the most screen time. Never do we see his parents, his brother who originally talked him into going caving, nor his siblings. Then there's the 3 odd characters dressed in out dated clothes. An older man, younger man and child all dressed the same. Never do we see what was happening on the surface outside the cave entrance to learn of any ideas on getting him out. This being a first full-length movie is above normal for first timers but should have focused more on the main interest of the movie. It does show how "time can be a friend or a enemy" as he was trapped for over 28 hrs. It also shows how gravity can work against you and it did here. It also shows how he really didn't go out doing what he loved. What we don't get are any real medical concerns or how being trapped upside-down can upset the body functional system. What we do get is this single line "we might have to break his legs". What also don't we get is what happens to the brain as blood rushes in the downward direction or how the heart has to work 3 times as hard to get blood flowing through the body. A lot we don't get but we get his life story. This isn't a clone of "127 hours" and to me not even close. In "127 hrs" he was outside with his arm pinned by a boulder. This isn't a clone of "Everybody's Baby: The Jessica McClure Story" which focuses on the rescue efforts. What we get is basically his biography so to speak. In all this movie is very unbalanced but somehow packs a punch when it shows him trapped. The end is a bit over the top as he sees his unborn son and holds him. Should have balanced it more by showing less of his life and more on the rescue efforts and how his family and wife were dealing with it. Or how is brother was taking it as he talked him into going in the first place. In all it's still a good movie, not one if your deathly claustrophobic of fear dark and tight spaces.

Confusing, poorly-made adaptation of touching true-life story

[davidw-61363 · 1/10 · 29 September 2016]

Hmm. Well, they tried. The true story of John Jones' entrapment in the cave is certainly interesting and tragic, don't get me wrong. However, the film suffers from a number of problems. For one, it gets bogged down with uninteresting filler and drags on. Another problem is that so much is unexplained and confusing. It is unclear exactly how John is stuck, as the only explanatory image we are given of his body position is on screen for about 2 seconds, viewed with a shaky camera. As a result, I was somewhat unclear on what they were trying to do to get him out. Likewise, the climax of the film was VERY confusing. All the anchors break (even though it was only a single one in real life), dust and rocks fly, and then blackness. Aaron (not a real person) is taken out, and John is heard asking if Aaron is alright. And then . . . John is suddenly dead talking to his unborn son, and the movie ends. There is no explanation of whether rescuers continued their efforts, and if so, what they tried. They mention earlier that in order to get John out, they would have to break his legs. It is never mentioned again. Did they try it? Dismiss it? No explanation of how John died or when, what his last words were, who was with him, nothing. It is obvious (at least in the movie version) that he was still alive after the collapse of the anchor system, so what happened next?! It was very poorly executed. It makes the rescuers look extremely incompetent, which of course they weren't in real life. And that brings me to the last problem, albeit the smallest: the changes from the real story. Artistic license is sometimes necessary when adapting true stories, but it can go overboard and hurt the story rather than help it, as in this case. John and his brother seem like fools because they are exploring passages in a cave they have never seen before, and they split up and explore alone! Disaster is just waiting to happen to such careless people. In real life, there was an entire group of people exploring with them. Another invention is the character of Aaron (and possibly others). I realize that he was a "composite" character, meant to represent various rescuers who helped John. However, the audience is meant to form an emotional attachment to Aaron, his struggles and problems, which all turn out to be hollow as he doesn't really exist. Then there is the invention of the creepy "Benjamin Button" version of John's future son, dressed in turn-of-the-century clothing(?). Very strange. He appears in visions(hallucinations?) to John first as an old man, then progressively younger until, after John's death, John holds him as a baby, telling him he needs to take care of his mother and sister, since he will be the man of the house, essentially. This is very touching. However, his son doesn't really need to be the man of the family and take care of anyone for a while, since John's widow marries again about 3 years after the incident in real life. This is of course just fine; I am not trying to be insensitive to the real people involved; I have the greatest sympathy for what they went through. I am merely pointing out the changes and flat out inventions made to the real story that look ridiculous when the true facts are known. In short, I can see that the filmmakers were going for an inspirational message with this movie, and at a couple of rare times, they succeed. The problems arise when they need to use boring filler and padding to make the movie feature-length, have unclear and confusing story elements, and overdo in changing real-life elements of the story. I do think that John and his family's story should be told, but I believe it would be better told through a documentary, where the true facts can be presented clearly, and this touching story can be shared more comprehensively and accurately.

Powerful, but missing something

[vandilization · 7/10 · 5 October 2018]

This movie isn't for everyone. There's really only one setting and maybe a total of 5 actual characters but each does truly well taking a true story about an ordinary guy and making you want to keep watching. Overall, the movie follows real-life events pretty accurately with a few characters being combined, but my only complaint is that the ending is left strangely kind of vague with an added flair of fiction. Obviously the true story is pretty cut and dry with John's death, but to show his "spirit" escaping from the cave with no one around is a strange addition to an otherwise great story. If you liked Buried with Ryan Reynolds, you should also like this movie.

Rescue movie that mostly focuses on imagining John's mental state and barely focuses on the rescue attempt

[MJC_42 · 2/10 · 18 September 2022]

On the plus side, this movie gets to the point where John wedges himself upside down in a cave pretty quickly. The problem is that this movie isn't really focused on the attempt to rescue him. There are bits here and there where they mention some of the technical challenges involved, and we see a couple different people interact with John, but we barely spend any time with those attempting the rescue, nor do we see much of their efforts to try and rescue him.

Instead, this movie takes that situation and builds a whole story around what John could have been imagining while stuck, and we learn about his childhood and relationship with his family, and about his Mormonism, and how he met his wife and wooed her.

This is more of a cheesy love story and tribute to John with a rescue as a backdrop. As a rescue/survival movie, this is one of the worst, if not the worst, that I've ever seen. The writing and acting are pretty bad, and way they go through all of these hallucinations is just poor movie making. This is a very amateurish movie, poorly made from pretty much every way you look at it unless you need a heartfelt, Lifetime movie about Mormon love.

Everyone is pretty much insufferable as they put John on this weird pedestal. There's a part in the movie where John is dating Emily, and she goes away for 4 months. It's not entirely clear to me how long they were dating before then, but it did not seem like very long. He was obsessed with her and needed her to be his wife. After she got back, he made this big show of proposing to her. She turned him down (rightly, given that it seemed like they hadn't been together that long), and it seemed to crush him. Apparently his family took her rejection of him (she did not break up with him, merely said no to the proposal) hard and vilified her. They wanted him to dump her and find someone else. He persisted, but gave himself a fairly short timeframe to try and convince her to marry him. I guess it worked. This whole thing came off pretty gross to me. I pretty much hated that family.

The ending is pretty terrible. I don't want to spoil it, but there's a whole Benjamin Button, cheesy watching over you nonsense to it all.

This is just a bad, bad movie that pretends to be one kind of movie but is actually something completely different. If you want a heartfelt Mormon tribute to this guy's life and aren't really interested in a rescue/survival movie, maybe this would work for you.

Well made but some people should avoid it

[AJ4F · 8/10 · 8 February 2019]

As you'd expect, this is not for anyone who has above average claustrophobia and it's tough enough anyhow. They soften the technical details of how he's stuck but the point is clear.

Knowing it's a true story and knowing the ending doesn't make it easier. I don't get the negative reviews, or how it might have been done better, except as a gritty technical exercise (a different type of movie).

The flashback and premonition scenes are well done, also. This was a difficult story to tell under any circumstances.

Secret to inner peace, knowing when to quit

[uscmd · 6/10 · 25 December 2023]

This movie deeply impacted me, on many levels. I'm old, but in my youth, I did things, pushed the envelope, that to others might seem crazy. After med school, after marrying, my life choices flattened out a little. I can understand why John went into the cave, the feeling of needing one more adrenalin fix. But, and I say this with love and humility, John was a damned fool. Loving beautiful wife, the girl he dreamed about. Through med school, soon to be a pediatric cardiologist. One healthy beautiful child, soon to have a second. Parents and siblings that loved him. Good health and prosperity. And instead of dropping to his knees and thanking God for his gifts, he crumpled that life into a ball and threw it away.

Its important in life to appreciate good, and not beat yourself up, because you think there should be more. Youi think you deserve great.....whatever that is. In nearly 50 years as an M. D. I've seen so much imaginary discontent, people that seemed to have it made, but managed to find something to feel bad about. Things that 99% of their family. Friends would think, "are you crazy?"

Personally I think this is why theres so much addiction in the world. The inability to find contentment. The movie was well made. The acting solid. Directing, casting etc., all great.

But, if you want to give Dr. Jones tragedy meaning, look to your own life. Examine the self destructive behaviors that put your "good" at risk. Too bad John was unable to do this.

Have you ever wanted to be forced to re-live the worst day of your life?

[AdamDroge · 3/10 · 7 October 2016]

It's really surprising to look at the IMDb page for this movie and see at at 8.2 out of 42 votes. The only explanation I can think of is the cast and crew who worked on this must've come here and given it their 10/10's because this movie is embarrassing.

The Last Descent tells the true story of John Jones, who tragically passed away in 2009 after getting stuck in Nutty Putty Cave, thus causing the cave to be closed for good because it was seen as too dangerous. Making a movie like this is a bit tricky because it is a sad ending, but sad endings aren't always bad as long as you have a purpose to your movie or a message to tell. This one gets it all wrong as it hits all the wrong notes. They could've pushed the faith-based angle. They could've done something inspirational, but instead they just showed a story of a guy slowly dying for 105 minutes and you leave the theater feeling depressed and angry as if the movie just forced you to re-live the worst day of your life for no apparent reason.

But not just that, on a technical aspect, this movie is a mess. The lighting is awful. The cinematography is pathetic. The camera angles are weird. The editing is choppy. The dialogue is poorly written. The direction is horrible. The acting is fine, but that's about it. Half of the movie goes back and forth between an awkward close-up shot of John and a worm's eye view of the rescue worker. The other half is a romance drama of how John met his wife and all their dating stories. Why? I guess they just didn't know what else to do with the time. Like they wanted to make a movie, but only had like 20 minutes worth of material, so they threw in a lot of filler and a bunch of unnecessary small talk.

Don't go see this movie. It's not worth your time. It's not worth your money. Some sort of story about John's passing could be told as long as they focused on his family and how they dealt with it, thus turning the movie into a faith-based film about life after death and how to deal with the death of a loved on. But this is not that movie. It's a cinematic mess that looks like it came from a junior high school student and makes you emotional for all the wrong reasons.

I don't like dropping 1/10's on movies I don't like. I have seen worse movies in my life and I've probably seen worse movies this year that were more offensive or more of a mess. But for me a 3/10 is pretty bad.

A struggle to watch...

[mediathailand · 1/10 · 14 October 2020]

Poorly written, poorly directed and poorly acted, with a lot of pointless hallucinatory scenes of John Jones staring across a field at his wife and his daughter. You really feel like the film was a rush job - put together in a hurry, merely to make a buck on the back of this tragedy. Don't waste your time buying the vid... It's a shame though, with a talented writer-director and experienced actors, this could have been an excellent movie - paying tribute to John Jones and the brave men and women who tried to save him.

Just Like 147 Hours, Only Much Sadder

[kupcr · 7/10 · 7 August 2020]

Based on a true story that happened in 2009, this movie 'The Last Decent' is similar to another movie called "147 Hours" concerning Aron Ralston, but in this film a caver or Spelunker named John Jones who is accompanied by his long-suffering brother Josh, go to Utah to begin exploring an unmapped section of what is called Nutty Putty Cave and Josh gets out safely, but John becomes stuck upside down 150 feet underground. Actor Chadwick Hopson who plays John Jones, is such an emotional character and you feel his overwhelming sense of dread and sadness. The rescue efforts to bring John out to of the hole to be re-united with his loving wife Emily (played remarkably by Alexis Johnson) and the whole scene between John and Aaron(Landon Henneman), is imprinted in your mind. There's a few scenes with Susie (Jyllian Petrie) that are truly heart felt and the Stock footage of scenes from the actual newscast interspersed in the movie make you feel the impact of what actually happened back then. Aaron, and John's interaction wrench your heart. I'm still reeling from this. That's all I can reveal! Please watch this!

Not What You May Think

[jimcarter1959 · 1/10 · 21 November 2019]

Daring cave rescue by a tireless, heroic group? No! After 90 minutes the "rescue" consists of telling the victim to breathe countless times. Oh..they did cut part of his pants off. So; what about the other 88 minutes? A lot of dream sequences and flashbacks that have nothing to do with a cave or rescue. Had I known in advance the cave was in Utah, I wouldn't have wasted all the time. Utah means we're treated to a healthy dose of their bizarre religion. If you want a sappy, predictable love story with a religious slant, then this is your movie. If not; don't bother.

Claustraphobes avoid

[mattb2448 · 6/10 · 18 January 2021]

I found this a difficult to watch, not because of the acting or cinematography... because I shudder at the thought of being stuck like that poor man. It's honestly made me never want to go caving again... anyway

Acting wise it wasn't great and I think they could have spent more time on what was being done inside the cave rather than all the flashbacks but overal it was an ok watch

Hard-to-watch cautionary tale

[wtprincetx · 3/10 · 22 November 2022]

This movie was hard to watch, partly because I'm claustrophobic but also because it's horribly slow. Writing, directing, and acting were all second-rate at best, and the dreams were hokey. I felt sorry for John but even more so for his wife and children. If he'd used his head, he wouldn't have died. Spelunkers should watch this movie as a lesson about what NOT to do. It's good to know that the cave was sealed. At least no one else will die there. I don't really consider that a spoiler because the title makes it clear that the movie represents his LAST descent. We all knew he was going to die before we watched it.

Hits in the feels

[Bonkster · 7/10 · 24 September 2023]

I was a little surprised to see this movie score below at least 6.5, and my initial thought was the usual "don't make entertainment out of a real life tragedy"-remark, but it seems to be the opposite in this case. Sure I was a bit bummed by some of the technical inaccuracies as well (hole being a lot bigger etc), but when I realized that this movie is more about John's story than the rescue effort, the movie grew immensely on me. It is mostly flashbacks and conversation all in all, but it's there for a purpose; to make you feel for the main guy as opposed to just watch the technical aspects of a failed rescue mission that there are tons of videos about on Youtube.

I don't think it's cringe either, most of it is well acted and it makes the ending so much more heart wrenching. I see people here complaining about not immediately getting the little plot twist which is thoroughly explained - I personally thought that was a touching little detail.

Try to think of it as Titanic - there's more to the story than a ship sinking in the Atlantic, but if you really just want to see the technical aspects of the sinking, maybe you should watch a doc instead. This is a very emotionally driven movie, and if you're not an emotional viewer it might not be for you.

Could of been a great film, but it was cringeworthy and bad.

[Dan_ToThePoint · 1/10 · 6 November 2022]

1hr 44min runtime is an absolute joke. I know this film is based on a true story, but it's bad. It could of been a really strong film, but the flashback fest of cringeworthy moments of the stuck climber with his family are put in to extend its runtime. There is one attempt thoughout the whole film to remove the climber from his stuck position and that is right near the end. The whole film is basically a conversation between the stuck climber and a rescue worker giving him fluids now and again inbetween flashbacks. The rescue team all seemed pretty relaxed about the situation and no hurry to crack on with with rescue.

I don't think I have ever witnessed such bad cinematography in a film before. The scene of the climbers entering the cave, dust and dirt is visible on the wide angle camera lens, as well as heavy vignetting from what looks like a screw on filter. This is just an absolute rookie error in cinema. The film kind of loses all credibility and makes you wonder that if they can't be bothered to clean their lenses, then what amount of research went into getting the facts behind the story. Editing in the opening scenes especially is all over the place and very amateurish, which leaves the film looking rushed, accompinied with poor acting thoughout.

Don't bother with it.

Tough film to watch but wonderfully told

[OneAnjel · 9/10 · 13 February 2022]

Chadwick Hopsin gave a stellar performance as John. Kudos to Halasima for a beautifully done mosaic of John's life & ordeal. All actors were believable, set was well-done w/great attention to detail. Those saying you shouldn't watch if you're claustrophobic weren't kidding; it is very tense when John is scooching thru the narrow passage. Later, that extreme level of tension diminishes. However, I found that days after watching, this story still haunts me. Many call it similar to 127 Hours but it's more similar to Everest (Rob Hall), imo. Despite the horrific ordeal, there simply isn't the same level of suspense.

Some reviews are unhappy with the way the film was done. But w/any art, you need to look for what the presentation is trying to convey, not what you think it should convey. This is a beautiful retelling of who John was, what became of him, & some interesting ideas of what he might have experienced. But it does leave a lot out, which can be found on the web. IE, it doesn't reveal they tried to dig rock away to make more room, that 2 rescuers got stuck, or that only 15 were qualified to actually go into that part of the cave. It doesn't tell that the son of the cave-access manager was sent in to do the final crawl with a stethoscope. The nimble 15 y/o was a regular caver who also brought with him the radio for a final goodbye to Emily, which never took place.

I would definitely recommend watching this part-documentary/ part-drama & then do a search where you'll find things like a drawing depicting how John was positioned & the narrow access routes. The rescuer called Aaron in the film was actually Ryan Shurtz. In the only detail I could find about Ryan it was said despite his cave & rescue expertise when he first saw John's predicament he had to hold back tears. Both Ryan & Susie became friends of the families. But be warned: This film will stick to you. Many viewers find their way to YT channels like TFIL or CBG, where seasoned spelunkers film their adventures and make it back out. For me, watching those videos gave me some relief and a better understanding of what happened to John and even what kind of person would attempt such a challenge.

For those complaining there was a religious thread, this film wasn't designed to avoid personal triggers but to portray a man's touching journey. I think those who fear believers to the point they're compelled to constantly draw attention to their distain are the very people who need such trust & tranquility in their own lives. It's yours for the asking. I found this aspect of the film to be very moving, personally. Regardless if a person considers themselves a believer, we all long to know our loved one has found some solace and that they are not really lost.

Truly an amazing, intense watch. So glad I stumbled onto this film. There are many other harrowing stories of cavers around the world but, to my knowledge, this is the only full-length docudrama. But I will stress again, this will haunt some of those who watch.

So emotional and heartbreaking

[usmantariq-66437 · 7/10 · 23 December 2023]

It is an excellent movie but it isn't close to reality, Jones couldn't make eye contact unlike shown in the movie , what's shown in the movie isn't even ten percent close to what he actually suffered.

So much better could have been done about the movie , he would have had panic attacks that would have been so severe unlike what is shown in movie; He would have tried so hard to get out of that position and would have struggled so much to get out injuring himself which isn't shown in movie.

He would not be breathing normally , He would have done so much to relax himself mentally; he would have cried out loud at times desperately trying to get out, he would have yelled.

So much more could have been added to the movie , Didn't do justice to his last moments.

Partly Really Good, Partly Unfortunate

[rickchris-141-832806 · 5/10 · 17 February 2023]

Most of the movie was good and compelling, but some things were irritatingly vague and faux-artsy.

The identity and purpose of that old man/middle-aged man/kid who showed up here and there, for example, never were made clear---and if they were, it was done poorly. A viewer should not have to do the movie-watching version of straining at stool due to severe constipation to figure out what's going on.

The whole end was disappointing, not because of the message, which was very good, but because of the seeming effort to avoid anything that looked too "religious" in the depiction of the recently dead protagonist. And, as an aside, if a person who dies in a cave enters immortality the way we saw there, the Afterlife is very oddly organized.

Poor

[nathantyson-96463 · 3/10 · 5 June 2022]

Way too Many flashbacks. Took up a third to half the film. Film too long. Ending rubbish.

And this can't all be blamed on being a low budget film. Cccc ccc.

Family survival story turned out to be grainy Mormon propaganda movie

[cjv123-1 · 1/10 · 24 November 2019]

I can not stand it when Hollywood is clueless and lumps cults in with mainstream Christian movies. I totally wasted my time with this movie and didn't know it until well into it. There should be an additional rating on LFS produced movies as they in no way represent mainstream Christian belief. Also the production quality was simply awful anyway.