Now playing in theaters, as well as On Demand, is the underwater suspenseful thriller, The Last Breath.
The film stars Kim Spearman (As I Am), Jack Parr (“Peaky Blinders”), Alexander Arnold (Yesterday), Erin Mullen (“Midsomer Murders”) , Arlo Carter (“Doc Martin”), and Julian Sands (A Room with a View).
The film was directed by Joachim Hedén. His other work includes underwater diving thriller “Breaking Surface” (2020) – which won two Swedish Film Awards and was recently remade in the English language as “The Dive” (2023), which he co-wrote – Tribeca Film Festival selection “New York Waiting” (2006), “Framily” (2010), and the football comedy “10.000 Timmar” (2014).
Finding the long-lost wreck of the warship USS Charlotte has been the lifelong pursuit of Levi (Julian Sands), an aging expat running a tourist dive business in the British Virgin Islands together with recent college dropout Noah (Jack Parr). When the USS Charlotte emerges for the first time in eighty years after a tropical storm, Noah’s friends visiting the island insist for them all to do a once-in-a-lifetime dive on the newly discovered wreck before it’s handed over to the authorities. The dream dive rapidly turns into a nightmare as they become trapped in the darkness of the Charlotte’s interior, thirty meters down and with a dwindling air supply. And then they discover that they are not alone.
I have always wanted to try diving, but I certainly wouldn’t dive smack in the middle of the ocean. I’m even less likely to want to dive in the middle of the ocean and go inside a submerged ship. I would feel so claustrophobic. This film even made me feel that way at times, but NOT in such a way that I couldn’t watch it. I just mean that if I was faced in the same situation as the divers in this film, I would feel crippling claustrophobia.
I don’t want to give away too much, but let’s just say a feared sea creature plans on making the diver it’s lunch. I’m sure you know what I am referring to.
As I already mentioned, the film was effective in a way that it made me wonder how I’d be facing the same situation. I see that as a good thing. Most films DON’T make me feel that way (putting myself in someone else’s shoes). This film also utilizes some decent “jump scares,” which I was impressed by. I’m a die hard horror movie fan, and most jump scares have no effect on me. I can think of two instances in this film where I was caught totally off guard by something that happened on the screen and made me shutter.
Aside from that, this film does have a Syfy Channel feel to it. I honestly wouldn’t consider this a major motion picture, but rather something you’d find while scrolling across your television channels. The film is entertaining, but I PERSONALLY would have been disappointed if I paid $$$ movie theater tickets to see the film.
The sharks had to be CGI (obviously for the actor’s safety). There are some great, very realistic looking CGI sharks, then you have the laughable sharks from the Sharknado movie franchise. The sharks in this movie zip by so quickly that it’s hard to get a good enough look at them to see just how realistic they look.
The actors must have been diving, but most likely in a giant water tank and not at the bottom of the sea.
The acting was decent. I didn’t find any issues with any of the actors.
The movie was predicable, right down to knowing which actor would meet his/her demise first (aka…lunch!). Let’s face it, most movies are predictable to some degree, so I won’t fault this film for that.
I liked The Last Breath. I didn’t love it to the point I would purchase it for my family’s movie collection, but if I happened across it on network or premium television, I might watch it again. I did find it entertaining.
Look for The Last Breath at a theater near you, or On Demand through your favorite service.
The Last Breath has a run time of 92 minutes. I’m not sure what it’s rated, but I would think PG or PG-13.
The film is by RLJE Films. You can check them out on social media to keep up-to-date on new movie releases.
Below is the film’s trailer for your entertainment.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener of this film in order to do a review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
