Ron Howard has a way with true tales, just look at his work on Apollo 13. So, in many ways, he’s the perfect filmmaker to tackle the true tale of the 12 young football players and their coach who wandered into a local cave near their Thai home and wound-up spending weeks trapped below ground after monsoon rains arrived early in the season. Thirteen Lives captures the entire harrowing experience impeccably.
I’m sure you remember the news story that swept the globe. In fact, it was such a story and people were so compelled that they arrived from 17 countries with just over 5,000 people volunteering to get those Thirteen Lives up safely. The problem is that the entire cave system inside the mountain is flooded and most of it is underwater. Over several thousand feet down, Colin Ferrell’s John Volanthen and Viggo Mortensen’s Rick Stanton discover the boys and their coach. Surprisingly, after 11 days, they were all still alive.
Thirteen Lives is a stunning achievement on many levels. Much like the true tale, people came from around the globe to make this movie, from its stars—Farrell, Joel Edgerton, and Mortensen, to its international cast led by a stellar Thai ensemble. My full thoughts on the film are below in the video! Enjoy!
Thirteen Lives airs on Prime Video starting August 5, 2022. Don’t miss it. Full grade in the video above.