--- title: "The Rescue" year: 2021 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-rescue" fi1m_score: 78 critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 17 published: "2026-09-17T05:48:04.926292+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T05:48:29.058258+00:00" region: "US" 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." --- # The Rescue (2021) Directed by Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi · 1h 47m · MPA PG · Documentary, Drama **Fi1m score: 78** · Critics 81 from 17 reviews *In a sentence:* The world’s least likely action heroes, a retired fireman and an IT consultant who are happiest in tight wet darkness > Chin and Vasarhelyi’s account of the Tham Luang rescue is as tense as anything they have made, and the British divers at its centre are odd, dry and admirable company. It sees too little of the boys and goes soft at the close. ## Synopsis June 2018, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. Twelve boys from the Wild Boars football team and their coach walk into the Tham Luang cave after practice, the monsoon rain arrives early, and the passages flood behind them. The Thai Navy’s divers cannot get through the narrow, silt-filled sections, so two British cave divers, Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, are flown in, while on the mountain above, engineer Thanet Natisri tries to divert the water before it reaches the cave. Nine days in, the boys are found alive on a ledge. Getting them out through miles of flooded tunnel is the problem nobody has an answer to, and Australian anaesthetist Richard Harris and Craig Challen are called. ## Review In June 2018 twelve boys and their football coach walk into the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand, the monsoon arrives early and the water shuts the way out behind them. Everyone who watched the news that summer knows how it ended. Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, who made [*Free Solo*](https://film.one/film/free-solo) (2018), know that we know, so *The Rescue* is about how it was done, told by the men who did it. It is a tense, clear, well-made procedural. It is good rather than great, and the reason is who was available to sit in front of the camera. Those men are mostly the divers. Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, the two British cave divers flown in when the Thai Navy’s own men found the passages beyond them, are the film’s centre: a retired fireman and an IT consultant, middle-aged and unglamorous, who plainly prefer a flooded passage to a crowded room. Stanton describes appalling things in the tone of a man reporting the weather. Around them the film gathers Richard Harris, the Australian anaesthetist whose part in the operation we will leave the film to explain, Thanet Natisri, the engineer trying to pump water off the mountain before it reaches the cave, and Craig Challen, Jim Warny and Mikko Paasi from the wider team. Nobody here talks like a hero and the film does not make them. The dives are the reason to see it. Much of the underwater footage was recreated afterwards with the divers playing themselves, and the film does not always say which is which; we minded less than we expected, because the recreations are so bare. David Katznelson, Ian Seabrook and Picha Srisansanee share the cinematography credit, and what they give us is a torch beam in brown water, a guideline vanishing into silt, a helmet grinding along rock with an inch to spare. For long stretches there is nothing to see at all. We have sat through a great many screen catastrophes without much trouble, and we could not breathe watching Volanthen feel his way along a line in water the colour of tea. It was the flatness that did it: his own breathing, his hand, the line. Bob Eisenhardt’s editing keeps the geography straight, which is harder than it sounds. He cuts between news footage, the Thai Navy’s own video from inside the cave, the interviews and the recreations, and returns again and again to a cross-section of the cave with the boys’ ledge marked on it, so that you always know how far they are from air. Wes Tooke is credited with a screenplay, an odd thing to see on a documentary, and it tells you how the film has been built: arrival, search, discovery, deadline, plan. Daniel Pemberton’s score earns its place in the dives and outstays it in the interviews, where the men would be more frightening plainly heard. What it lacks is the boys. The twelve and their coach appear almost entirely in the Navy footage, thin figures on a ledge squinting at a torch, and hardly at all afterwards; their families are glimpsed at the cave mouth and not spoken to. The Thai divers, the governor running the operation and the thousands of volunteers on the mountain get a montage each. The film is honest that this is the rescuers’ story, and for the crucial stretch the rescuers were a handful of foreigners. Still, the people who were trapped end up the least present people in a film about their rescue. And late on, in a stretch we will not describe, the film goes soft and starts asking to be liked when it had already earned it. Set against *Free Solo*, this is the less intimate film. There Chin and Vasarhelyi had one man and a year of his life; here the event was over before they arrived, and what they have is men remembering, in interviews that are handsome and a little formal. What carries over is their interest in people who stay calm where the rest of us would not. Stanton and Volanthen spent decades being thought slightly odd for a hobby that turned out to be the only thing that could bring thirteen people out of that cave, and the film lets them enjoy the irony without labouring it. Watch it with someone who is sure they know the story; they will be quiet within twenty minutes. Certificate 12A and 107 minutes, most of them spent wanting the men on screen to hurry and knowing exactly why they will not. *Fi1m score 78, published 17 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (17) - **Radio Times**, Matt Glasby (5/5): The critic praises this documentary for recounting an audacious act of group heroism in a tense and accessible manner. It singles out the surprising humor and exploration of the rescuers' psychology and eccentricities for adding a crucial human element. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-vwmhjb/the-rescue/) - **Slant Magazine**, Mark Jenkins (90/100, inferred): The critic finds the documentary masterfully layered and transfixing even for those familiar with the events, attesting to living a calling. It singles out the reenactments with original participants and the gripping narrative built from footage, interviews, and maps. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-rescue-review-cave-diving-documentary/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Frank Scheck (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it a true-life adventure film that puts Hollywood to shame, keeping viewers on the edge of their seat with riveting, nail-biting storytelling. The review singles out the effective mix of archival footage, reenactments, and interviews that give the story vital human dimension. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-rescue-telluride-2021-1235006007/) - **The Independent**, Lindsey Bahr (Three and a half stars out of four): The critic calls the documentary riveting and one of the best of the year, praising how it makes viewers feel present in the events despite knowing the outcome. It singles out the filmmakers' focused approach on the rescue efforts and the compelling real-life characters, especially the British divers, for particular praise. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/thai-brits-yosemite-el-capitan-oscar-b1933503.html) - **Variety** (Critic's Pick): The directors lucidly document the extraordinary rescue story with cinematic finesse, balancing narrative perspectives from multiple international teams and celebrating selfless heroism through sharp instincts and dextrous editing. It is a stunning documentary of moral resonance and mastery best experienced on the big screen. [Read](https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/the-rescue-review-1235054262/) - **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich (80/100, inferred): The critic describes it as another heart-in-your-throat documentary from the Free Solo team about extreme athletes. It singles out the harrowing account of the cave rescue operation and the divers' bravery. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-rescue-cave-diving-documentary-review-1234661533/) - **Screen Daily** (80/100, inferred): The review calls it a tense, absorbing documentary with a strong emotional charge that leaves viewers filled with admiration for the boys and the quiet heroism of the rescuers. It singles out the forensic detail provided and the wide range of testimonies assembled for creating a definitive account. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-rescue-telluride-review/5162908.article) - **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (70/100, inferred): The directors deliver a solid, suspenseful nonfiction retelling that brings viewers close to the experience through clear logistics and integrated reenactments. It shows affinity for daredevil minds and achieves a balance of extreme-sports primer and psychological profile, proving gripping and moving. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-10-07/rescue-review-thai-cave-documentary) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roxana Hadadi (70/100, inferred): The documentary focuses on the divers' perspective in the Thai cave rescue but feels like only half the story due to lack of access to the boys and their families and reliance on existing footage. It builds strong tension in the rescue sequences and is emotionally moving despite a languid start. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-rescue-movie-review-2021) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (70/100, inferred): The review praises this involving documentary for centering on the British cave divers rather than the rescued boys and for seamlessly integrating news footage with reconstructions. It highlights the ethical and practical dilemmas of the sedation plan as the element that raises the stakes. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/31/the-rescue-review-thai-cave-rescue-documentary-free-solo-directors) - **The New York Times**, Jessica Kiang (70/100, inferred): The film delivers a gripping, rousing narrative of the cave rescue centered on the rescuers and cave divers' mentality, with elegant procedural recreations that create edge-of-your-seat drama. It unites disparate individuals behind a noble goal but does not deeply explore more intriguing aspects of the story. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/07/movies/the-rescue-review.html) - **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★★★☆): The review commends the deft mixing of archive footage, interviews and recreations to create tension despite the known outcome, and singles out the quiet eccentricity and emotional depth of the British lead divers for particular praise. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-rescue-review-deft-emotional-telling-thai-cave-rescue-pchvkmsng) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A): The critic calls it a thrilling documentary about a miracle mission that captures the cave rescue powerfully without embellishment. They single out the mind-blowing footage of the divers navigating poor-visibility conditions and the emphasis on the unassuming hobbyists as the key to the story's humanity and tension. [Read](https://collider.com/the-rescue-review-thai-cave-documentary/) - **/Film**, Chris Evangelista (8.5 out of 10): The critic praises it as a harrowing, captivating documentary about selfless heroism in the Thai cave rescue, shot like a thriller with effective recreations, though noting minor issues like a cloying song. It highlights the emotional uplift from the divers' selflessness. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/604617/the-rescue-review-free-solo-directors-return-with-a-nail-biting-doc-about-the-thai-cave-rescue-tiff-2021/) - **Deadline**, Todd McCarthy (80/100, inferred): The filmmakers come close to matching their previous work Free Solo with this account of the vast operation to rescue the trapped Thai soccer team and coach. It offers cogent reporting on the suspenseful story with unique characters and guarantees wide viewer interest. [Read](https://deadline.com/2021/09/film-review-the-rescue-telluride-elizabeth-chai-vasarhelyi-jimmy-chin-documentary-1234827443/) - **The Playlist**, Jason Bailey (B): While effective and tense, especially in the heist-like assembly of divers and dramatic tension, it suffers in comparison to "Free Solo" due to less intimacy and some distancing reenactments and overly sentimental ending. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/the-rescue-telluride-review-20210903/) - **The Wrap** (75/100, inferred): The directors slickly tell the unlikely story of the cave-diving hobbyists who saved the day in this enthralling documentary. The real-life story is so spectacular it is hard to believe, though the overwhelming polish sometimes undermines its efficacy as a documentary. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-rescue-film-review-thai-soccer-cave-rescue-documentary-natgeo/) ## Details - **Director:** Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi - **Director:** Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi - **Screenplay:** Wes Tooke - **Cinematography:** Ian Seabrook, Picha Srisansanee, David Katznelson - **Editor:** Bob Eisenhardt - **Music:** Daniel Pemberton - **Costume design:** Sophia Aiudi - **Producer:** Jimmy Chin, Bob Eisenhardt, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi - **Cast:** Jim Warny as Self; Thanet Natisri as Self; John Volanthen as Self; Derek Anderson as Self; Rick Stanton as Self; Mikko Paasi as Self; Richard Harris as Self; Josh Morris as Self - **Runtime:** 1h 47m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 8 October 2021 - **Genres:** Documentary, Drama - **Box office:** $946,634 - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raVceiFQSjw ## Where to watch in the US - Disney+: streaming, uhd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Free Solo* (2018), Fi1m 82: The same directors, one climber, no rope, and a camera crew scared to look. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/free-solo.md) - *Last Breath* (2019): A saturation diver loses his line on the North Sea floor; pure procedure and dread. - *Touching the Void* (2003), Fi1m 87: Two men, one broken leg and a mountain; the reconstruction documentary that set the template. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/touching-the-void.md) - *Thirteen Lives* (2022): Ron Howard’s dramatisation of the same rescue, sober, and kinder to the Thai side. - *Apollo 13* (1995), Fi1m 84: Clever people in rooms solving a problem with what they have; the grandfather of this film. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/apollo-13.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/the-rescue