Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, Tom Bateman, Sukollawat Kanarot, Vithaya Pansringarm, Teeradon Supapunpinyo and Josh Helman
Based on the true story surrounding the Tham Luang cave rescue that captivated the world in 2018, Hollywood brings the drama, danger and humanity surrounding the rescue to film...
To celebrate the birthday of one of their own, the Thai "Wild Boars" junior football team decide to explore the Northern Tham Luang cave with their coach. But the boys don't take into account the torrential weather, and find themselves trapped deep within the flooded cave system.
The local Governor (Sahajak Boonthanakit) soon has worried families and a community wanting action, but the danger of the caves is even too much for the local Navy SEALs to navigate, pushed back by rising water levels, rapid current and flash flooding within.
British divers Richard Stanton (Mortensen) and John Volanthen (Farrell) fly out to join the huge rescue attempt. But while it's not just exploring the cave system that is dangerous, it's diverting the flood water that is seeping in and slowly taking away any chance of success...
In 2021, National Geographic released The Rescue, a documentary with lots of real footage and interviews with those involved surrounding the dramatic rescue. In late 2022, Netflix will have a limited series release called Thai Cave Rescue. Sandwiched between this, Amazon Prime have released the Ron Howard directed feature film Thirteen Lives. In such a short space of time following the harrowing yet inspirational 2018 rescue of the Thai Wild Boars junior football team from flooded mountain caves, real life drama and danger always makes a big sell.
Howard has certainly honed his eye on telling drama from the eyes of those involved from works such as Rush, Apollo 13 and even Frost/Nixon. He brings together solid cast and crew to unravel the stories and relationships teased only through the media and history books to present a from of entertainment modern audiences can enjoy and sometimes learn from. Be it motor racing, space flight or politics, no topic is off limit. Here he tackles inspiring human resolve and what it takes to bring cultures and communities together to save those who need help. Set in and around the Tham Luang cave network, Howard works a balance of character drama and tension that is never really reaches fever pitch over the hefty run-time, but brings you in from the start to see events unfurl from the front line.
Howard uses a strong trio of Western leads in Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton but surrounds them with brilliant Thai support including Sukollawat Kanarot and young Pattarakorn Tangsupakul.
It's fair to say the leads of real-life rescuers Richard Stanton, John Volanthen and Richard Harris could have been played by anyone, but there is a risk of not fully investing in them. Mortensen and Farrell manage to carry an everyman look and feel to Stanton and Volanthen; they blend in and use nothing but their expertise, professionalism and logic to plan and carry out the rescue. They work as a team, and you believe everything you see because there are no individual heroes in this. Edgerton as Harris is also one of the team, just a face in the crowd but who brings vital skill and knowledge to help. There is always an ensemble around the main leads, reminding everyone this was a real team effort.
Going into this retelling with no real knowledge of the events surrounding the rescue, it will be a fascinating watch. Devoid of apparent excess or grandeur, it moves along at a steady pace carried along by the cast and the brilliant cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom. Mukdeeprom captures a quiet sense of chaos on a wet, muddy and busy landscape with many people back and forward trying to organise the rescue, and then within the caves themselves. There is a sense of real claustrophobic danger and atmosphere as we immerse ourselves in caves peppered with stalactites, rapid flowing water and bleak light. Everything looks and feels real, and there seems to be no shortcuts in creating the conditions faced by all.
Thankfully towards the final act, the pace still stays calm and focused in telling the story, but the rescue comes to fruition much more when the balance of many lives is in the hands of a few divers trusting the elements around them. It's a gripping and - again - claustrophobic watch.
Hollywood may always lose a few points in retelling factual events, taking into account artistic licence and catering to make the story entertaining as much as allowed to keep viewers hooked. Howard manages to balance all of the above and easily opens up the door for exploring the documentaries out there to learn more if this was your first introduction.
Ron Howard balances Hollywood entertainment with factual, humane drama for a solid rescue film that is carried along by a fully invested cast and crew, with riveting cinematography to boot.
'Thirteen Lives' is a co-production between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Bron Creative
Imagine Entertainment, Magnolia Mae and Storyteller Productions
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