---
title: "Last Breath"
year: 2025
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/last-breath-2025"
fi1m_id: "last-breath-2025"
imdb_id: "tt14403504"
tmdb_id: 972533
wikidata_id: "Q119225271"
fi1m_score: 66
critics_score: 64
critics_reviews: 17
published: "2026-09-21"
updated: "2026-09-21T01:52:54.914151+00:00"
region: "JP"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Last Breath (2025)

Directed by Alex Parkinson · 1h 33m · Thriller, Drama

## Identity

Last Breath

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/last-breath-2025
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** last-breath-2025
- **IMDb ID:** tt14403504
- **TMDB ID:** 972533
- **Wikidata ID:** Q119225271
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14403504/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/972533, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q119225271

**Fi1m score: 66** · Critics 64 from 17 reviews

*In a sentence:* Half an hour without air on the seabed, and the most frightening thing is the calm voice on the radio

> Alex Parkinson turns his own documentary into a lean, procedural thriller, and for its middle stretch it is as tense as the genre gets. The people on either side of the accident, though, stay about as sketched as their radio call signs.

## Synopsis

Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) is a young saturation diver with a house half built and a wedding to Morag (Bobby Rainsbury) to plan. He leaves for a job in the North Sea, carrying out repairs on the seabed from a dive support vessel under Captain Andre Jenson (Cliff Curtis). His partners in the pressurised living chamber are Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson), a veteran told this is his last job, and David Yuasa (Simu Liu), a precise, unsmiling expert. Craig (Mark Bonnar) runs the dive from a control room. The bell goes down in worsening weather. On the seabed, the ship’s positioning system fails, the vessel begins to drift, and Chris’s umbilical, the cable carrying his air, heat and light, snags on the structure and parts.

## Review

Alex Parkinson has told this story once already, in a 2019 documentary of the same name with the real people on camera. Now he has gone back and staged it with actors, and the result is a 93-minute, 12A thriller that knows exactly what its one good idea is and spends the first twenty minutes and the last ten slightly at a loss for what to do around it. The middle is very good indeed. We recommend it, with the plain caveat that you will not remember anyone’s name a week later, and the film does not much mind.

The idea is saturation diving, which the script, by Parkinson, Mitchell LaFortune and David Brooks, explains in about four lines and one well-chosen shot. Divers working at depth for weeks live pressurised the whole time, in a steel tube of bunks and valves aboard the ship, so they can go down and come back without decompressing each time. Grant Montgomery builds that chamber so low that Woody Harrelson has to duck, and the film gets more out of the three men eating dinner in it than out of anything set on land. Harrelson plays Duncan as the sort of colleague who has a paperback and a remark for every situation, and he is the film’s only source of ease.

Then the bell goes down and the film finds its shape. The storm rises, the ship’s positioning system fails, and the vessel starts to drag its divers across the seabed by their lines. Tania Goding cuts between four rooms, the bridge, dive control, the bell and the black water outside it, and she never stays in one long enough for us to feel safe. Ian Seabrook and Nick Remy Matthews shoot the seabed as nothing at all, a cone of helmet light and then dark, and the surface as grey water coming over the rail. When Chris’s umbilical parts and his voice simply drops out of the radio, we realised we had stopped breathing ourselves. It was the silence that did it, not the alarms.

What follows is a rescue conducted by people who cannot see the man they are rescuing, and the film is at its best when it trusts that. Mark Bonnar, running dive control, gives Craig a Scottish voice that refuses to rise however many red lights come on, and the steadiness is more alarming than shouting would have been. Cliff Curtis has one decision to make on the bridge and makes it without a speech. Simu Liu plays Yuasa as almost blank, and in the water, where the job is to be a pair of hands that do not shake, it works; on the ship it reads as an actor waiting to be given something. Finn Cole is earnest and open and spends much of the film alone on the seabed, which is a hard place to act from.

The frame around the accident is where the film lets itself down. Morag and the half-built house are there to give Chris a reason to live, and they are written as exactly that and nothing more. Duncan’s enforced retirement is set up as a grievance and then left where it was put. The dialogue in the crisis is the dialogue people actually use in a crisis, short and functional, which is honest and also means nobody says a line worth quoting. Paul Leonard-Morgan’s score is a low pulse for most of the running time and is right to be, but in the long stretch of waiting it thickens and starts doing the acting the script has declined to write.

The documentary had the real men and the real underwater footage, and the drama cannot add feeling to that; what it adds is scale, a seabed we can see, and a storm we can hear. Against the genre it does well. [*Apollo 13*](https://film.one/film/apollo-13) also spent its length in rooms full of people reading instruments, and this is nearly as good at making a gauge frightening, though far less good at making us care who is watching it.

See it in a cinema if you can, for the dark, which is the point. At home the seabed becomes a very quiet screensaver and the film shrinks with it. Either way, it will make you conscious of your own breathing for about forty minutes, and then you will go and make a cup of tea and forget most of the people who put you through it.

*Fi1m score 66, published 21 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics come away tense and mostly satisfied. Ten of the seventeen reviews are positive, and the praise gathers in one place: the procedural detail of saturation diving, and the way Parkinson builds suspense out of valves, gauges and radio chatter rather than speeches. The underwater camerawork earns repeated mention for its claustrophobia and its sense of the ocean’s size, and several reviews single out Woody Harrelson for supplying what warmth and humour the film has.

The spread is wide. Even admirers concede the characters are thin and the emotional payoff smaller than the peril deserves, and the negative reviews make that their whole case. Deadline and Empire argue that fidelity to Parkinson’s own documentary drains the drama, leaving ciphers where men should be, and Eye for Film finds the deep less frightening here than in the real footage. The New York Times goes further and calls it bland comfort food. Nobody disputes that it is tense; the argument is over whether tension is enough.

## Straight answers

**Is Last Breath worth watching?**

*Last Breath* is worth watching for anyone who wants a tense, procedural survival thriller and does not need to care much about the people in it, and we scored it 66. The middle half hour, once the diver's air line parts, is as gripping as the genre gets. The framing scenes on land are thin, and see it in a cinema if you can, for the dark.

**How long is Last Breath, and what is it rated?**

*Last Breath* runs 1h 33m. It is a thriller and drama film.

**Where can I watch Last Breath in Japan?**

*Last Breath* is not on any streaming or rental service in Japan at the moment. It is available in 32 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is Last Breath, and is it suitable for children?**

*Last Breath* is a 12A with no violence in the usual sense; the fear comes from a man alone on the seabed without air while colleagues try to reach him blind. It is intensely suspenseful rather than graphic, and anxious viewers may find the long silent stretch hard to sit through. Older children with a taste for thrillers should manage it; younger ones will find it slow and then frightening.

**How does Last Breath compare to Touching the Void?**

*Last Breath* is a dramatised thriller about a North Sea diving accident, while [*Touching the Void*](https://film.one/film/touching-the-void) is a documentary in which the climbers who survived tell their own story alongside reconstructions. The earlier film is the more affecting, because the real men carry it; *Last Breath* is the tighter and more purely suspenseful, but its characters stay sketched. Choose the diving film for tension, the climbing film for feeling.

**What should I watch after Last Breath?**

After *Last Breath*, try [*Touching the Void*](https://film.one/film/touching-the-void) (2003, Fi1m 87): The other great British survival account, told by the men who lived it. Then [*Apollo 13*](https://film.one/film/apollo-13) (1995, Fi1m 84): People in rooms reading gauges, and the gauges have never been more frightening; and [*The Abyss*](https://film.one/film/the-abyss) (1989, Fi1m 71): Cameron’s divers at depth, with a marriage and something else down there.

### Reviews we read (17)

- **Vulture** (90/100, inferred): The critic praises it as a shockingly good, breathtaking thriller that builds tangible suspense through detailed process and technology, delivering heart-attack tension and documentary-like clarity in a lean, elegant package. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-the-shockingly-good-deep-sea-thriller-last-breath.html)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Frank Scheck (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it a gripping, taut adventure thriller that pares the story to essentials without wasting time and ratchets up tension effectively in a claustrophobic setting. It praises the authentic depiction of the events, the director's command of suspense, and strong supporting performances. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/last-breath-review-woody-harrelson-simu-liu-1236146613/)
- **The Guardian** (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it an unbearably tense deep-sea drama based on real events. They praise the camerawork above and below water that plunges viewers into the survival thriller. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/16/last-breath-review-riveting-real-life-deep-sea-drama-wood-harrelson-simu-liu-finn-cole-alex-parkinson-north-sea-chris-lemons)
- **Time Out**, Sophie Monks Kaufman (4/5): Parksinson's remake of his documentary delivers adrenaline through procedural detail of saturation diving and the team's solidarity under pressure. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/last-breath-review-2025)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (80/100, inferred): A compact, journalistic true-life rescue thriller that sticks to facts without hype, effectively building suspense through specific details of saturation diving and the accident. Parkinson's debut impresses with its nuts-and-bolts tension and low-key payoff. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/last-breath-review-woody-harrelson-1236318532/)
- **Screen Daily** (75/100, inferred): Straightforward survival thriller impresses with attention to small human moments in the life-or-death struggle and unfussy performances that make a compelling, touching story. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/last-breath-review-woody-harrelson-dives-into-real-life-survival-story/5202197.article)
- **The Times**, Ed Potton (75/100, inferred): The critic describes a queasy thriller about saturation divers that conveys the vastness and terror of the ocean. They praise the believable performances and Harrelson's levity amid the tension. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/last-breath-film-review-woody-harrelson-d3b3lmgmx)
- **The AV Club**, Brianna Zigler (B-): It succeeds as a technical feat with chilling, claustrophobic underwater cinematography and a grounded sense of danger drawn from the real events, but falls short emotionally due to thin characterizations and forced romantic beats. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/last-breath-review)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Simon Abrams (65/100, inferred): The film delivers expected men's adventure thrills with tense underwater peril but suffers from formulaic style, overheated dialogue, and underdeveloped emotions. It succeeds most in its process-oriented action and documentary-rooted realism. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/last-breath-movie-review-2025)
- **Radio Times**, Terry Staunton (3/5): Keeps a firm grip on the rescue operation for genuine thrills but adherence to real events causes dragging and lacks emotional depth on the human terror. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-wuvygw/last-breath/)
- **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich (50/100, inferred): The review finds the underwater thriller suspenseful but criticizes it for being all surface and no depth, with thin characterizations and emotional shortcomings despite the gripping premise. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/last-breath-movie-review-woody-harrelson-saturation-diving-1235099126/)
- **The New York Times**, Jeannette Catsoulis (35/100, inferred): A blandly directed true-life adventure that feels like cinematic comfort food, disappointingly shallow with trite stakes and lethargic pacing. Harrelson provides some amusement in a mostly stationary role. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/movies/last-breath-review.html)
- **Empire**, Helen O’Hara (30/100, inferred): The film is a curiously bloodless account of a real-life disaster, undercutting its own drama by remaining too faithful to the source documentary. It singles out the lack of emotional stakes and monosyllabic characters for complaint, despite some gripping tension. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/last-breath-2025/)
- **Collider**, Aidan Kelley (7/10): The critic finds the film a worthwhile claustrophobic ride thanks to excellent direction and technical spectacle in the underwater sequences, but notes it lacks heart and engaging characters compared to the documentary. [Read](https://collider.com/last-breath-2025-review/)
- **Paste**, A.J. Weiler (7.0): The critic praises the stunning underwater cinematography, sound design, and immersive true-story tension, while noting some flat dialogue and limited character development. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/last-breath/last-breath-review-diving-movie-woody-harrelson-simu-liu)
- **Eye for Film**, Andrew Robertson (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film unconvincing and patchy, preferring the real documentary version of events; the script is wooden and the underwater sequences fail to capture the scariness of the deep sea despite the director's familiarity with the subject. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/last-breath-2025-film-review-by-andrew-robertson)
- **Deadline**, Gregory Nussen (25/100, inferred): The critic finds the narrative film a hollow re-creation of the source documentary, underwritten and overly muscled due to its slavish devotion to facts that waters down the drama and urgency. Harrelson brings some depth as one diver, but other characters remain ciphers and the tension dissipates. [Read](https://deadline.com/2025/02/last-breath-movie-review-1236300632/)

## Details

- **Director:** Alex Parkinson
- **Director:** Alex Parkinson
- **Writer:** Mitchell LaFortune, Alex Parkinson, David Brooks
- **Cinematography:** Ian Seabrook, Nick Remy Matthews
- **Editor:** Tania Goding
- **Music:** Paul Leonard-Morgan
- **Production design:** Grant Montgomery
- **Costume design:** Vanessa Loh
- **Producer:** David Brooks, Stewart Le Marechal, Paul Brooks
- **Cast:** Woody Harrelson as Duncan Allcock; Simu Liu as David Yuasa; Finn Cole as Chris Lemons; Cliff Curtis as Andre Jenson (Captain); Mark Bonnar as Craig (Dive Supervisor); MyAnna Buring as Hanna (1st Officer); Josef Altin as DPO; Bobby Rainsbury as Morag
- **Runtime:** 1h 33m
- **First release (Brazil):** 24 February 2025
- **Genres:** Thriller, Drama
- **Budget:** $24 million
- **Box office:** $25 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNMyooXZZTM

## Where to watch in Japan

Not streaming, renting or buying in Japan at the last check.

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, ID, IN, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, SE, SG, TH, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Pioneer* (2013): Norwegian saturation divers in the same sea, with a conspiracy instead of a storm
- *Touching the Void* (2003), Fi1m 87: The other great British survival account, told by the men who lived it — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/touching-the-void.md)
- *Apollo 13* (1995), Fi1m 84: People in rooms reading gauges, and the gauges have never been more frightening — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/apollo-13.md)
- *Thirteen Lives* (2022): Ron Howard’s cave rescue, patient about the diving and generous with its people
- *The Abyss* (1989), Fi1m 71: Cameron’s divers at depth, with a marriage and something else down there — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-abyss.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/last-breath-2025