Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A commercial diver is stranded on the seabed with only five minutes of oxygen supply, but with no chance of rescue for more than 30 minutes. With access to amazing archival footage, this is the true story of one man’s impossible fight for survival.
Last Breath is a gripping documentary that leverages extraordinary archival footage of the actual incident to create near-unbearable tension. The plot — a diver stranded on the seabed with minutes of oxygen — is inherently compelling and told with exceptional pacing and structure, earning a top mark. The cinematography, blending real underwater footage with reconstructed sequences, is genuinely stunning and immersive. The ending, knowing it is a true story, still manages to deliver enormous emotional payoff. Acting from interview subjects and dramatic reconstructions is solid but functional rather than exceptional. Novelty is above average — the use of real footage distinguishes it from standard survival documentaries — but the rescue-against-all-odds format is a familiar documentary template, keeping it from a top score.