The Climb (I) (2017) User Reviews

Easy to watch, lighthearted French film with some heart

[maccas-56367 · 6/10 · 15 December 2019]

This was an easy to watch, lighthearted French film about a guy from a housing estate climbing Mt Everest. It took a while for me to get into it, and a big part of the reason I did, was only because of my interest in Mt Everest.

Mt Everest and the Nepalese culture are really the stars of the film here. I found it hard to like the main character for the first half of the film. He came across quite insulting and disrespectful to others and a lot of the humour didn't stick.

I am, however, a sucker for a good hiking or mountain movie. The Climb has a lot of heart and it's light, breezy nature was kind of infectious - albeit adding an unrealistic vibe to things. It was a bit too cheesy in parts.

If you're after a light and easygoing French film with spectacular scenery, then this might be for you. I'll probably have forgotten about it in a week though.

A charming, sweet film without a nasty bone in its body.

[ryko25 · 7/10 · 6 January 2018]

This is a lovely simple film full of heart-warming moments and warmth. It isn't groundbreaking or particularly profound, but the protagonist give an excellent and very endearing performance and the film is well-paced and neatly put together.

A charming and nice movie

[Wizard-8 · 7/10 · 26 December 2018]

For those who think that French cinema is filled with nothing but pretentious bores, I would suggest that they take a look at this particular effort. Although officially based on a true story, it doesn't take long to realize that a lot of liberties were taken to make the movie more appealing and commercial. Sometimes these changes, such as making the protagonist incredibly naïve about what he will be facing, are a little lame and annoying. Fortunately, most of the movie does work pretty well. The incidents of comedy are low key but charming. Practically every character with a substantial part is very likable, especially the central character, who you will root for every step of the way. The movie also looks very nice, with expert cinematography and actual filming in Nepal. All this ends up making the movie a sweet surprise, one that you'll remember for a long time afterwards. And it will probably have you looking for more examples of French populist cinema. The movie is on Netflix, so catch it there.

Good natured but very "unrealistic" movie.

[peter-376-761113 · 7/10 · 21 April 2018]

An enjoyable enough fish-out-of-water tale of a young black man from a Parisian ghetto attempting to climb mount Everest. There's some beautiful cinematography of the mountains ... but the fact that it's presented as a based on a "true story" when the narrative bears hardly any resemblance to the real life events undermines the success of the movie. I would imagine it makes serious mountaineers cringe.

A charming film with a good dose of adventure

[battabong · 9/10 · 12 June 2017]

I often find contemporary French cinema difficult to watch, but L'Ascension is different, I loved this film. It is charming, pertinent, and the whole fish-out-of-water thing (A young Franco-Africain man who has never been out of his Parisian ghetto promises a woman he's dating that he will climb mount Everest for her) is done really well. Add to this spectacular scenery in Nepal and Chamonix (faux Everest :-), and I think one has to be pretty fussbudget not to enjoy this film.

Really inspired

[tybk-43333 · 10/10 · 6 May 2018]

It was a long time ago since i droped so many tears during a movie. Fantastic film.

Warm-hearted story which probably doesn't need any surprises

[richard-fieldhouse · 9/10 · 10 March 2018]

With his on-off romance with Nadia going nowhere, Samy promises to prove his love to her by climbing Everest. It's not the normal thing to do for a young Senegalese-French guy from a deprived Parisian suburb. Particularly since he's never climbed anything higher than the stairs to the top of his apartment block. But with unexpected determination, he first finds a tour package (at 40,000) and then even more unexpectedly gets the financial backing of a local radio station.

On his arrival on Kathmandu, things look bleak. Samy has packed some pretty inappropriate things, it's quickly apparent that he knows nothing and the group leader seems brusque and unsympathetic. But he does find a kindred spirit in Johnny le sherpa, and he does seem to manage to keep smiling. Will that be enough?

The film executes its simple formula beautifully. Anything that is lacking in nuance is made up for by the film's warm heart. All the acting is strong, particularly from Ahmed Sylla as Samy and Umesh Tamang as Johnny and the relationships feel believable. Apart from a few references to pot smoking, this is a good family movie.

Whose ludicrous idea was it to change the hero's nationality?

[frozenge · 2/10 · 11 September 2020]

I would have given an 8 to this warm, light-hearted and refreshing movie, but I found out afterwards that it committed some serious fraud.

The movie was based on the true story of a French Algerian man living in an ethnic suburb of Paris who decides to climb Mt Everest. For some stupid reason, however, they made it about a French Senegalese man. Why the hell? What possible reason is there?

Granted, the actor who played Samy did a terrific job and you couldn't help but root for his character. But why not stick closer to the true story? Make the climber Algerian, for God's sake.

Also, this wasn't the movie's only deviation from the truth but it did strike as the most egregious. Shame on you, whoever decided that.

I'm really tired of movies that are "based on a true story" that make gratuitous changes to the basics of that story.

2 stars. Would have been 8.

emotional, funny, charming movie

[fabonnefoy · 9/10 · 7 January 2018]

The movie delivers a nice message (a black guy from the parisian suburbs who wants to prove that he can also achieves things despite the tough life he has there) and I loved it ! lovely landscapes, funny, emotional, happy-ending, mix of cultures, achieving something.. these are all the words which spontaneously come to my mind !

Feel-good charming movie with amazing scenary

[mmartic-21937 · 8/10 · 15 November 2021]

Really loved this cute movie and the main actor is amazingly likeable.

I just hope viewers won't think that it's easy to reach the top of Mt. Everest and foolishly go there.

Enjoyed it

[ibraalajati · 8/10 · 17 January 2022]

I really enjoyed it, i mean even though it's supposed to be based on the true story of Nadir, but this movie has a different twist and the motivation and the purpose if climbing Mount Everest is totally different, but still very nice and lovely movie to watch and the Main character Ahmad is so lovely and makes it so natural.

It does not have the makings of a full movie

[GhaithYamen · 5/10 · 17 February 2023]

The work appears poor in comedy and action, even in terms of romance, as it is very superficial as well, We all know that the work budget is low, but not to the extent that we only have 3 characters, and one of them is an ugly woman who has never earned my feelings.

The work lacks logic in the story. How can you convince me that a person who is not even good at riding a bicycle is the only one who was able to climb the highest peak in the world, so we conclude that the director is so bad that he did not even work on the story.

The only good thing is the Asian boy character who made me curious to know his story more than the story of the movie.

A really enjoyable movie about courage... and love.

[vincent-rp-francois · 10/10 · 9 March 2021]

I really struggle to understand why this movie is not rated significantly higher. It deserves far higher ratings! Funny, inspiring, full of beautiful sceneries, and what more, inspired by a true story. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of this French man from a socially-deprived suburb of Paris who - out of love - decided to climb no less than Mount Everest. Little did he know about the challenge ahead of him.... a fantastic lesson of courage.

Heart warming

[lucienm-60321 · 8/10 · 11 April 2021]

Great movie with wonderful casting in the lead role !

Very endearing.

Incidentally, the first person to climb Mount Everest was Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

He accomplished this world first before Norgay's second time around which was with Edmund Hillary.

Feel good movie

[yadavrahul-47485 · 10/10 · 26 August 2020]

Superb performance by the lead cast.. Just watch it without expectations It won't bore you..

Not an adventure nor a social commentary

[dierregi · 3/10 · 12 February 2021]

Samy is a twenty-something unemployed guy of Senegalese origins, living with his parents and three siblings in the horrid Parisian suburbs, specifically in department 93, the most notorious Parisian "banlieue".

Samy is in love with Nadia, who's much of a flirt (an "allumeuse", as they say in French) and to gain her love he claims he would do anything, such as climbing Mt. Everest. Because, you know... finding a job is too difficult ...

Nadia is not impressed, therefore Samy embarks in his undertaking with the sponsoring of the local radio and other firms. Even if Samy is an endearing enough guy (albeit naive to the point of stupidity) and Nadia is actually in love with him, the film fails to deliver its feel-good, romantic message because of his structure.

The first problem is an excess of symmetrical shooting. Placing a main character in the middle of the screen gives the movie an amateurish feeling. Unfortunately, the director just LOVES that type of shooting and he does it continuously.

Even worse is the zig-zaging between Samy's climbing the Himalaya and daily life in District 93. It's impossible to appreciate Samy experience, because the film keeps going back to the banlieue and the supporting cast of family and friends. Maybe that was done to underline the difficulty of living in 93 and how Samy turned into a local hero, but it certainly spoils Samy's undertaking

The film suffers a lot for being unable to choose between social commentary and adventure. Finally, it may also convey the - wrong - idea that climbing Everest is an easy task anybody can achieve with zero preparation. 306 people died during the climb and many others lost fingers and limbs due to unpredictable weather conditions.

Wonderful!!!!

[bethjazotte-60931 · 10/10 · 14 April 2021]

Se você quer ver um filme romântico com a melhor energia, assista esse filme!!! Esse ator é uma graça! Filme francês no Netflix."The Climb". If you want to see a romantic movie with the best energy, watch this movie !!! This actor is so cute! French film on Netflix.#movieslover #netflix.

Inspiring charming true story!

[michelle_kummer · 10/10 · 7 December 2021]

A romantic inspirational film that captured me from the first five mins. A love story about a young man Sami who is living in a housing commission in France and not working, he's in love with Nadia a girl he's known since school and she's also living in the housing apartment. He tells her he loves her and would climb Everest for her so she dares him, not actually thinking he will ever do it she just wants him to get a job. But after seeking sponsors and bank loans, he finds a sponsor and off he goes. With zero climbing experience, he has no idea what he's in for. The scenery of Kathmandu and base camp is superb. This man's friendship with Jonny the Sherpa is adorable as the two have a language barrier hit it off, seems Jonny is the only one who believes he can get to the Summit. I laughed, I cried and my heart lit up like a Christmas tree. This film was a true inspiration that love conquers all, and nothing is impossible. I highly recommend this heartwarming film. All of the actors did a fabulous job. Once you watch this, check out Project Possible.

Totally worth my time

[Nk_x09 · 8/10 · 14 February 2021]

I loved it. Such a simple and refreshing movie with amazing sceneries. The comedy is good and the acting isn't bad.

A loser at the top...of the world !

[magguilmot · 8/10 · 23 September 2023]

As many European comedies, it starts with a silly idea. Like telling a girl you'd climb the Everest for her. You can guess that anyone who actually tries without proper training is not the sharpest tool in the shed.

The people who accept him nonetheless on his crazy journey change him. Very feel-good movie in that respect. His grumpy guide who teaches him the basics for a payday despite seeing right through his BS, his lovely sherpa who likes to learn french, wonderfully interpreted. The mountain itself changes him. The sublime of it is not well-rendered on screen but it is humbling, and he needs that to become a better man.

Just like the man in the terrible romance novel given by his mother that his sherpa asks him to read to him, he gets better. He sees those men, going back and forth, doing the hard work when he's barely able not to pee his pants and give up...it gets him thinking and us laughing.

Inspired by, not altogether the true story.