The Rescue (Exclusive Series) (Winter Film Festival)
- Matt Palmer
- Mar 1, 2022
- 2 min read
Studios: Greenwich Entertainment/ National Geographic Documentary Films/ Passion Pictures
Tagline: Courage. Runs. Deep.
Plot: ‘The Rescue’ chronicles the enthralling, against-all-odds story that transfixed the world in 2018: the daring rescue of twelve boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand. Using a wealth of never before seen material and exclusive interviews, E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin keep viewers on the edge of their seats as they bring alive one of the most perilous and extraordinary rescues in modern times, shining a light on the high-risk world of cave diving, the astounding courage and compassion of the rescuers, and the shared humanity of the international community that united to save the boys.
Director(s): Jimmy Chin (Free Solo; Meru; Reel Rock 7)
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (Free Solo; Meru; Incorruptible)
Rated PG for thematic material including peril and some language (107 min)
‘The Rescue’ is a riveting documentary that is an absolute must see! This 2021 doc delivers a lot of emotion and is incredibly well done.
Even though we know how the true story events ended (for those who followed the story), there are quite a few moments that are very heart-pounding and nail-biting. With how suspenseful some of the documentary can be, while watching it, you start to wonder whether the divers and/or the kids will make it out of the caves alive. Again, even if you know how it ends! ‘Rescue’ is also very inspiring, especially after seeing everyone from all over coming together to rescue the children and their coach.
It is also incredible that the actual individuals took part in the documentary’s reenactments. With the re-enactments mixed in with actual archive footage, it made this feature more compelling.
The remaining festival show dates for ‘The Rescue’ are as follows: Sat. March 5 at 7 pm and Tues. March 8 at 12 pm. If you couldn’t get to the festival to see this amazing documentary, it’s also currently available on the Disney Plus streaming platform.
Here are a few interesting tidbits for ‘The Rescue’:
Some scenes were reenacted by the actual participants.
To rescue the kids, the divers had to sedate the kids (to prevent panicking) with atropine (reducing saliva) and ketamine, also during the dive. This was never done before.
In March 2019, it was announced that Kevin Macdonald (Whitney; The Last King of Scotland; The Mauritanian) would direct a documentary revolving around the Tham Luang cave rescue, with National Geographic Documentary Films set to produce.
In February 2021, it was announced that Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin would replace Macdonald as director, though he would remain as executive producer.
The filmmakers had difficulty securing rights to the story with National Geographic able to secure the rights to the diver’s story, while Netflix had acquired rights to the experience of the soccer team, preventing them from telling their story in the film.
The film had its world premiere at the 48th Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021. It was also screened at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2021, where it won the People’s Choice Award for Documentaries.
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