The Rescue | Review
Fresh off their win for Best Documentary at the 2019 Academy Awards, husband and wife filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have returned with an incredibly thrilling documentary that seems too good to be true, yet most of us already know the story. Their new film, The Rescue, documents the incredible true story of the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue, in which 12 boys and their football coach were trapped for 18 days in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Thailand. It’s one of the best films of the year.
This incident made headlines around the world, so you may already know how it ends—thankfully, with a happy ending. It’s always hard to tell a compelling story to which you already know the conclusion to, but The Rescue is so captivating because it dives deep into the 18-day journey to rescue the boys, and reveals stunning facts you may not have known. On top of that, reenactments are woven seamlessly with actual footage from the rescue to incredible effect, thanks to Bob Eisenhardt’s impeccable editing.
The cave system the boys are trapped in is miles-long, filled with tight flooded spaces too difficult for just anyone to navigate through. The Thai Navy Seal are called upon, but they’re not trained for this type of environment, which is why cave divers—who just do this as a hobby—are summoned. The first half of the film is dedicated to finding the boys, and when it finally happens, it’s an emotional knockout.
The second half of the film is focused on the actual rescue. We see the trials and errors from everyone involved, the disagreements, bureaucratic red tape, all in service of the same goal. There are estimates it could take months to rescue all of the boys. This is when the film becomes a ticking time bomb, as the boys don’t have months to wait—a monsoon is quickly approaching, which will drown them all if they aren’t already dead from suffocation.
Despite how high these stakes are, and how tragic the outcome could be, the film is unrelenting in its thrills, keeping you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. There are moments in which the rescue crew give up all hope, are ready to pack their bags and go home. But you know that hope can’t be lost because we know the boys are eventually saved. I won’t say how the boys are saved, but that the rescue team were able to succeed in a plan that could easily be fatal is a testament to the incredible powers human beings are capable of. This rescue was an international effort that involved over 10,000 people, including hundreds of government agencies, police officers, soldiers, divers, and dozens of countries.
It’s easy to become pessimistic in today’s world of never-ending wars, climate change, and a global pandemic, but The Rescue radiates hope. It’s a reminder of what beautiful things can be done when we work together. It’s incredible how innovative, brave, and resilient we can be, and no one is too small to play a role. The divers who played a critical role in the boys’ rescue were hobbyists, yet they more than justified this oft-ridiculed pastime by saving 13 lives.
