User reviews

I have to agree with many of the other statements made here. I was really looking forward to this film and then I spent the whole film thinking, wow...the Matthew's family must have loads of money to have been able to afford to send Michael up Everest...and then, two decades later, have so much money, Spencer could easily travel to Nepal and pay other people to go trekking for his body. The search must have cost a fortune...

And then, in top of that, so much of the gravitas that could have been in the film was ridiculously edited out, making the blurred bodies a huge distraction of silliness. Whomever thought THAT was a good idea should be fired and never allowed to work in film again.

This film could have been so much more, but it ultimately just came across as a little vapid.

First let me say: Spencer and his family are not likely to win over too many people what with their apparent lack of any real emotion. They really do come across as privileged rich folk who are doing this more for fame than money. BUT if you watch this as a documentary about Everest rather than about this family, it really is quite an incredible story. It is incredibly sad that Michael lost his life climbing Mt Everest, and anyone would understand the desire to recover his body. They obviously have the means to fund an unbelievably expensive and dangerous needle in a haystack search, so they did! Good for them.

That's what this story is about. Simply put, this is documentary about an incredible search-and-recovery attempt undertaken by the world's greatest climbers.

All the reviews claiming this film is purely about a privileged English dude putting Sherpas' lives at risk are really doing a disservice to the amazing team of climbers that Nimsdai leads. To paint this team as just an under-privileged group of Nepalese locals who are being taken advantage of is incredibly reductive and insulting! They are undermining the unbelievable skill and strength of Nims and his team. Not only are they elite climbers who completely understand (and are well-equipped to take on) the danger and difficulty of the task, Nims has also made a huge name for himself and this is great exposure for him and his company! If you pay attention his branding is absolutely everywhere: the helicopter, the whole camp, all their clothes, even the mug that Spencer is drinking from! Nimsdai and his company and his team are not just some poor locals with no choice but to climb for white people. They're incredible athletes with a strong connection to the mountain that deserve respect and deserve recognition.

People who watch this with that in mind will truly be blown away.

This doc film charts Spencer Matthews' quest to find the body of his brother who dies near the peak of Everest. There's a lot that's beautiful - particularly the footage of the mountain and the story of Michael who seems like a wonderful human. What lets it down is Spencer's lack of emotional depth, as he seems nearly throughout to see this as an exciting &wide-eyed adventure, not a deep, personal experience it ought to be. Moreover, watching Nims bounce across the mountain 'body-hunting' just feels in really bad taste, and disrespectful to all that die there. Left a sour taste, if I'm honest.

Bit apprehensive after reading some of the reviews, but thought it was worth the watch. Some people need to calm down about the "priveledge" aspect - of course they couldn't afford to attempt this without financial/media backing, and at the end of the day the sherpas traverse mountains for a living - their whole career has inherent risk, they are paid to fulfill other people's wishes.

I think it conveys the risks of extreme mountaineering well, and shows the devastation that the loss of a loved one in such a circumstance can have on the family left behind.

Spencer does have a bit of a cold soulless exterior, which can be a tad hard to warm to. Good cinematography.

I'm still watching so pieces I can't comment on but so many of you sound heartless yourselves. Ok, so this guy and his people have the money to hunt for their son. Why should that matter to you? If it bothers you, don't watch. They did start looking for another brother of a family that doesn't have the money to do it themselves. How many of you complainers have lost a child? If so, do you have. Nice burial spot or cremation remains that you know where they are? I have my son's ashes here at my home, I don't have to have that loose end that I couldn't lay to rest. I feared that more than anything due to my son's lifestyle. It's sad to me.

So you go on an expedition to find the body of your brother after 20 years based in a picture and you do not even check with the people which have the most knowledge??

The documentary is just bizarre and completely nonsensical poorly written and with things said which are not accurate ......this is clearly just done for visibility ...the 2 star is only because of some sporadic nice pics of the mountains.

Poorly portrait situations and the whole documentary just is has this vibe of fake or strange ...the narration is also very subjective on things which are not .

All in all a completely waste of time and towards the end stopped listening all together.

I was so excited to watch this film but was sadly let down. Contrived and a little tone deaf I feel this film fell completely flat with conveying what should have been a deeply emotional message. The ending felt like a quick producer "save" in a vague effort to turn around the tone the doco was taking. Spencer wasn't remotely likeable and pretty emotionless regarding his brother and Nims was the main person to lend the humanity this documentary needed. It was lacking in depth, and felt rushed. Spencer not following in his brothers footsteps and letting others risk their lives was honestly quite sickening. Overall was left feeling actually quite angry, sad and annoyed at what could have been a fantastic documentary.

It started out as a sympathetic story, and of course, it is a family tragedy. As we watched, my husband and I were wowed by the spectacular houses the family lived in as much as the Everest climb. What do these people DO for a living? We wondered how they carved out the time to plan and make the trip. Do they work?

The real story came out well into the movie, when they shared that their 22-year-old son climbed Mt Everest wearing a Rolex watch. And the real story is the tone-deafness of the family and filmers. The movie is silent on the subject of the family affluence set against the poverty of the Sherpas. It's no sin to be rich but own the privilege! Talk about the cost of the expedition, the Sherpa's compensation, the risks they took -- make the story about the Sherpas as much as the other characters -- they are the real heroes here.

The "well, as long as we're up here" return of the Sherpa body was distasteful. Filming weeping children. Honestly.

The cinematography alone gives it a 10 but so does the story and rescue. It is a moving piece of film about real people.

It is irrelevant if they are wealthy or not and to discredit Spencer Matthews who is a successful television personality is just quite hateful but to discredit his poor brother for wearing a Rolex is just vile.

To review this based on dislike of wealth and perceived privilege is wrong.

The Sherpas are outstanding with incredible skills who were portrayed exceptionally. I did not see any of them looking in any way unhappy as they were doing what they love.

Ignore the haters it's worth a watch.

Spencer Matthews has 0 emotion throughout. What should be an emotional search for his brother, comes across as staged and narcissistic. I enjoyed all the parts that didn't include him. There is a running theme of privilege, he has paid others to risk their lives, while he says at the bottom in his nice tent eating a hot meal, stressed that his Walky Talky isn't working. He didn't do anything! Then returns home stating he now know what it's like to reach the summit, in his multi million pound holiday home.

If this followed the Nepalese guy and the search for his brother, this would be a much more well recieved documentary.

There is a reason why over 200 bodies are left on the mountain, no normal person would want to risk the lives of others to retrieve the body of someone who was clear and accepting of the risks they undertook when attempting to climb Everest.

How that family and production team can sleep at night knowing they risked the lives of the Sherpas all for a wild goose chase is shocking.

Basically a terrible documentary about the privileged living amongst us.

How that family and production team can sleep at night knowing they risked the lives of the Sherpas all for a wild goose chase is shocking.

Basically a terrible documentary about the privileged living amongst us.

This "documentary" is a poor excuse from start to finish. It is poorly researched, and there is a lot that doesn't add up. To send a team up to search for a body long buried -after 23 years.....on the back of a photo that was easily identifiable by Sherpas as an Indian climber after 30 seconds seems scandalous. Spencer Matthew's seems to lack authenticity and awareness throughout as he tried to convince people of a deeper meaning that he doesn't convey.

Between bear Grylls, Nims and a made in chelsea star being the directors and stars it seems there might have been more ego and self-promotion here than anything. It seemed disrespectful to rescue team to not actually include much footage of how challenging it is to do that work but also disrespectful to the families and bodies of those left on the mountain, and to the family of the Sherpa 'Wang Dorchi' that they brought back down and filmed in complete tastelessness in their worst moments.

I think alot of people who are interested in mountaineering and the outdoors will be very disappointed by this film. It felt like they were trying to create the story instead of just respecting the final resting place of many people who were lost tragically.

Really poor taste. Uncomfortable watching. For a documentary with so much potential it was completely misguided and staged. Beautiful footage, and maybe a good intention but post production should have stepped in to do something about this offensive train wreck before it hit the big screen.

First, those who are caught up in the fact that the family has money it should be of no consequence to their review. Movie stars have money should they get poor reviews? And those who think them unemotional are wrong, not sure if they expected the family to break down throughout the movie? Do people really want to see human remains - no. Not sure why blurring them out would put anyone off. The possibility of recovery is something that many, who are interested in Everest, have wondered what would go into a mission. This movie shows the brave men who are willing to help a family find their loved one and also the difficult circumstances of a recovery effort all through a personal journey of grief and loss. The footage is amazing. The movie does tug at heartstrings and it didn't feel put on. Highly recommend.

Who are these that dis on this movie citing safety and privilege? Nobody slammed Conrad Anker when he went to get George Mallory off Everest in 1999, the same year Michael was lost. None of these Sherpas in this documentary looked like they were offended, abused or thought the search was unrealistic, unreasonably dangerous or futile.

It used to be accepted as fact that no one could perform a major rescue effort above 8000 meters, it's just not possible for a climber to carry another human. The vast majority of the climbers who have died above 8000 meters on ANY of the 14 mountains are still there. Kudos to the Sherpas!!

I really liked the side by sides of videos taken decades before along with the current shots of the same locations and material.

Bottom line: It's OK to go look for your brother who met his demise, last week or last century, poor or rich.

This is a touching account of Spencer, who lost his beloved older brother, 22 year old Michael in 1999 when he disappeared during his descent after he had summited Mount Everest. Spencer was only 10 years old at the time. The narrative is strung together to tell the whole story as cohesively as possible but the narrative isn't the point. The film is about Spencer finally finding a way to deal with the grief of losing Michael in his own way all of these years later. I knew nothing of Michael's tragic story but now I do. My heart goes out to his family and all of the families in similar predicaments.

I dont think Spencer having money has anything to do with a man trying to bring his brothers body home. Spencer though didn't cry definetly came across as emotional.

An incredible story of a man trying to return his brother home. Though Spencer doesn't climb Everest and is in base camp throughout, I think you can sense his worry and fear throughout.

He wasn't able to find his brother, however was able to return another man home to their family. Again a lot of comments regarding his wealth, because of his wealth he was able to give another family closure. I don't think he needs to be poor to come across as likeable or emotional.