Last Breath (2019)
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A diver is left trapped under the sea with only five minutes of breathing gas after his umbilical cable is severed.
The story
Last Breath is a documentary that recounts a serious saturation diving accident in 2012. While performing repairs below the surface of the North Sea, diver Chris Lemons, along with colleagues Duncan Allcock and David Yuasa, were supported by the vessel Bibby Topaz. When the vessel's dynamic positioning system failed, it drifted in rough seas, dragging the divers away and snapping Lemons' umbilical tether. This left him isolated without heat, light, or communications, possessing only a minimal supply of emergency breathing gas.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The documentary utilizes genuine footage, audio from divers' voice communications, and helmet cameras, along with interviews and reconstructed scenes, to depict the 2012 North Sea diving accident. While working below the surface, the support vessel Bibby Topaz suffered a dynamic positioning system failure. The vessel drifted in rough seas, snapping the umbilical tether of diver Chris Lemons. This severed his supply of heliox breathing gas, hot water for his suit, light, and communications. Lemons was left with only five minutes of emergency gas. Despite the conditions, Lemons survived for approximately 30 minutes. He was eventually located by a remotely operated underwater vehicle and then by his colleague David Yuasa, who managed to pull him back onto the diving bell. The film explores the reasons for his survival, attributed in part to the cold water and the high partial pressure of oxygen in his gas mix.
- Original title
- Le survivant des abysses
- First release year
- 2019
- Runtime (minutes)
- 90
- Production countries
- United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Richard da Costa; Alex Parkinson
- Writers
- Alex Parkinson · writer; Alex Parkinson · director
- Cast and characters
- Chris Lemons · Chris Lemons; David Yuasa · David Yuasa; Duncan Allcock · Duncan Allcock; Craig Frederick · Craig Frederick; Michal Cichorski · Michal Cichorski
- Genres
- documentary
- Themes
- survival; maritime accidents
- Tone and mood
- powerful
- Premise and plot tags
- documentary; underwater diving; survival
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews, with Metacritic assigning it a score of 61 out of 100. Empire described it as a 'great story,' while the Financial Times called it a 'powerful documentary.'
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 61 · scale: 100
- Production trivia
- Alex Parkinson directed a feature film version of the event in 2025.; The film was released simultaneously in cinemas and on Netflix in the UK.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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