Thirteen Lives 2022

5000 people, 17 countries, 1 miracle that united the world.

7.895 / 10   1239 vote(s)
PG-13
Drama Thriller

Based on the true nail-biting mission that captivated the world. Twelve boys and the coach of a Thai soccer team explore the Tham Luang cave when an unexpected rainstorm traps them in a chamber inside the mountain. Entombed behind a maze of flooded cave tunnels, they face impossible odds. A team of world-class divers navigate through miles of dangerous cave networks to discover that finding the boys is only the beginning.

Homepage https://www.unitedartistsreleasing.com/thirteen-lives
Release Date 2022-07-18
Runtime 2h 27m
Directors Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Brandt Gordon, Boontawee 'Tor' Taweepasas, William M. Connor, Jay Corry, Charles Croughwell, Rebecca Keros, Woodrow Travers, Ron Howard
Producers Carolyn Marks Blackwood, Jason Cloth, Aaron L. Gilbert, Michael Lesslie, Marie Savare, Jon Kuyper, P.J. van Sandwijk, Gabrielle Tana, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Karen Lunder
Writers William Nicholson, Don MacPherson, William Nicholson

MORE SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/

"Thirteen Lives follows the usual formulas of works based on true events, but Ron Howard's honest, non-Hollywoodized direction allows him to efficiently tell one of the most remarkable survival stories of the last decade.

The entire cast is extraordinary, but it's Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell who mainly guide the film through all the relevant, claustrophobic plot points in a somewhat heavy viewing runtime-wise. Interesting for viewers with little to no knowledge of what happened, but the question remains as to whether it adds anything truly significant to the documentary The Rescue about the same 18 days of suffering, anxiety, and uncertainty.

Massive praise for the worthy amount of screentime of the Thai language."

Rating: B-

Manuel São Bento

What's possibly most remarkable about this real life tale of courage and ingenuity is that a pretty A-list cast don't really overwhelm the story. Their contributions are solid and fairly undramatic as they allow the chronology to develop and the suspense and pressure to accumulate. It's history - so we know what happens, but somehow that lack of jeopardy doesn't really matter as we follow the efforts of an international team trying to rescue the twelve boys and their coach who have found themselves stuck underground, a few kilometres from the entrance, after heavy monsoon rains struck and flooded the tunnels. Now, of course, the first question might have been for the coach - didn't he look at the weather forecast first? However, now marooned quickly in their dark and claustrophobic environment, Ron Howard takes his time to demonstrate to us all just how this most innovative and challenging of evacuations was planned and executed - none of it without considerable risk to everyone involved. We are drawn into the scenarios, and I felt that I had skin in this game - the story has a palpable immersion (no pun intended) for the viewer. The cast gel well without any stand-out contributions or wordy dialogue, which I think well illustrates the strenuous pressures put on these men, essentially volunteers, by themselves, the families, the authorities and the relentless rain. The subterranean photography works really well in generating a feeling of peril and I certainly shared in that sense of relief at the end... A cinema watch is better, if you can - somehow the big screen demonstrates the small, tight spaces, better!

CinemaSerf