Last Breath, a new movie starring Finn Cole, Simu Liu and Woody Harrelson, plunges into theaters Friday. The film chronicles the incredible true story of Chris Lemons, a man who survived for more than 30 minutes on the ocean floor with almost no oxygen.
Last Breath is directed by Alex Parkinson, who co-directed a 2019 documentary of the same name. That movie depicts a crew of saturation divers in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland, who are tasked with doing some repairs in the Huntington oil field.
Saturation, or SAT, divers live in pressurized underwater crafts for weeks at a time.
“I love movies that teach me something, you know, about a weird part of the world or a weird job that nobody really knows about,” Liu tells ABC Audio.
Lemons was cut off from his oxygen supply when a storm knocked his crew’s ship off course while he was underwater, forcing him to survive on just one oxygen tank. That tank was thought to be good for about five minutes of breathing. He survived, unconscious, for more than 35 minutes. A few weeks after the ordeal, Lemons and his crew returned to the seafloor to finish the job they’d started.
Cole says the documentary was instrumental in his understanding of SAT diving and of his character, Chris Lemons. Also helpful? Meeting the divers in person.
“Meeting the guys was just, like, so interesting for me — being able to ask them all the dumb questions and all the crazy kind of existential questions. It’s cool,” Cole says.
Much of the film takes place in claustrophobic environments, like the helmet of a diver’s suit.
“It’s a massive challenge — probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to do,” says Cole.
“Acting in this little space,” says Harrelson, gesturing to a nearby SAT diver helmet. “Demanding!”
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