''Thirteen Lives'' is a 2022

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

survival film The survival film is a film genre in which one or more characters make an effort at physical survival. The genre focuses on characters' life-or-death struggles, often set against perilous circumstances. Survival films explore the human will to li ...

, based on the

Tham Luang cave rescue In June/July 2018, a junior association football team became trapped for fifteen days in Tham Luang Nang Non, a cave system in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, but were ultimately rescued. Twelve members of the team, aged 11 to 16, and ...

, directed and produced by

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

and written by William Nicholson. The film stars

Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. (; born October 20, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received nominations for three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Mortensen made his film debut with a small role in ...

Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A Leading actor, leading man in blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received various List of awards and nominations received by Col ...

Joel Edgerton Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is known for his portrayal of Will McGill on the first two seasons of the Australian drama series'' The Secret Life of Us'' (2001–02), and for playing Owen Lars in t ...

, and Tom Bateman. ''Thirteen Lives'' was released in select theaters in the United States on July 29, 2022, by

United Artists Releasing United Artists Releasing, LLC (UAR) was an American film distribution joint venture between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Annapurna Pictures and the successor to United Artists (UA) that operated from October 31, 2017 to March 4, 2023. Founded by form ...

, and began streaming on

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on August 5, 2022. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

On June 23, 2018, twelve boys of the junior football team "Wild Boars" and their assistant coach Ekkaphon Chanthawong leave practice to explore the Tham Luang cave. When the team fails to arrive at a birthday party organized by their parents, their families head to the caves, only to find them flooded and the boys missing, their bikes left at the entrance. The parents immediately alert emergency services. Royal Thai Navy SEALs, led by Captain Arnont, arrive to search for the missing boys, but find the dive too difficult to locate the team. Vernon Unsworth, a local British caver, shares his extensive knowledge of the complex and dangerous cave and suggests the authorities get in touch with the British Cave Rescue Council. British cavers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen travel to Thailand and attempt the dive, finding the boys and coach four kilometres from the entrance. During an attempt to deliver air tanks to the boys to keep them alive in preparation for the rescue, former Thai Navy SEAL

Saman Kunan Saman Kunan (; December 23, 1980 – July 6, 2018) was a Underwater Demolition Assault Unit, Thai Navy SEAL. After leaving the Navy, he worked as a security guard at Suvarnabhumi Airport. He died during the Tham Luang cave rescue operation, earni ...

drowns. Meanwhile, as hundreds of volunteers try to mitigate poor weather conditions, a water technician from Bangkok gains the permission of local farmers to divert water from the mountain onto their fields, destroying their crop. Realising the boys will have to be removed through the cave, via a six-hour dive, knowing what the risks are, Stanton and Volanthen contact Dr.

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous a ...

, plus supporting divers Chris Jewell and Jason Mallinson. With permission from the regional governor and minister, the divers sedate the boys and, with one diver per boy, carry each member out of the cave safely. The coach is removed last. The end scene is the boys celebrating the birthday party that was supposed to happen on the day they went into the cave. The end credits reveal that the coach and three of the boys, who were all stateless, are given Thai citizenship. The film is dedicated to Saman Kunan, the Thai Navy SEAL who died on July 6, 2018, during the rescue operation, and Beirut Pakbara, a Thai Navy SEAL who later died from a blood infection.

Cast

Richard Stanton Richard Stanton (October 8, 1876 – May 22, 1956) was an American actor and director of the silent era. He appeared in 68 films between 1911 and 1916. He also directed 57 films between 1914 and 1925. He was born in Iowa and died in Los An ...

as John Volanthen *

* Tom Bateman as Chris Jewell * Pattarakorn Tangsupakul as Buahom * Sukollawat Kanarot as

* Teerapat Sajakul as Captain Arnont * Sahajak Boonthanakit as Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn *

Vithaya Pansringarm Vithaya Pansringarm (, ; born 11 August 1959) is a Thai actor best known for appearing in '' Only God Forgives''. He is also known in Thailand as "Khun Pu". Vithaya graduated in Graphic Design from New York Institute of Technology. He practices m ...

as General

Anupong Paochinda Anupong Paochinda (; ; born 10 October 1949) is a Thai politician and retired army officer. He held the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army from 2007 until his retirement on 30 September 2010. While a lieutenant general holding ...

* Teeradon Supapunpinyo as Ekkaphon Chanthawong * Nophand Boonyai as Thanet Natisri * Thira Chutikul as Kiat * Popetorn Soonthornyanakij as Kan * Paul Gleeson as Jason Mallinson *

Lewis Fitz-Gerald Lewis Fitz-Gerald (born 15 November 1958) is an Australian actor, screenwriter and television director, who lectures in Screen and Media Studies at Australia's University of New England. Career Fitz-Gerald in 2018 was named for the drama se ...

as Vernon Unsworth * Peter Knight as Police Captain Bas * U Gambira as Kruba Boonchum *

Josh Helman Joshua Helman (born 22 February 1986) is an Australian actor. He portrayed Slit in the action film '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' (2015), William Stryker in the superhero film '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'' (2014) and its sequel '' X-Men: Apocalypse'' ...

as Major Hodges * Natvara Hongsuwan as Preeya

Production

It was announced in April 2020 that

was to direct the film, with William Nicholson writing the screenplay.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

acquired the rights to the film the following month. In March 2021,

and

were among the cast announced to star in the film. Filming began on March 29, 2021, mostly done in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

with the support of Queensland and Gold Coast governments. Scenes depicting

Chiang Rai Province Chiang Rai (, ; , ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six Provinces of Thailand, provinces that lies in Northern Thailand#Regional classification of northern Thailand, upper northern Thailand and is Thailand's northernmost province. It is bordered ...

were shot at lush tropical tree-lined roads, hotels and golf courses across Mudgeeraba, Yatala,

Numinbah Valley Numinbah Valley is a rural Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Numinbah Valley had a population of 212 people. Geography The Numinbah Valley is a valley and locality in the ...

and

Carrara Carrara ( ; ; , ) is a town and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey Carrara marble, marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, ...

in Queensland. Two warehouses in Yatala were sourced for the production offices, as well as the construction of a custom-built water tank and cave interiors. The hospital scene was filmed at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

Logan Campus. The film's original score was composed by

Benjamin Wallfisch Benjamin Mark Lasker Wallfisch (born 7 August 1979) is a British composer, conductor, and music producer known for his work on film scores. He has contributed to over 50 feature films since the mid-2000s, including notable works like ''Blade Ru ...

. When Howard approached his usual collaborator

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...

for the score, the latter strongly recommended his protégé

for the job. Wallfisch had a 20-minute suite ready before Howard had started shooting in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Release

''Thirteen Lives'' was released by

in select theaters in the United States on July 29, 2022, before streaming on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on August 5. The film was originally scheduled for a fully theatrical release by United Artists Releasing on April 15, 2022, and was then postponed to November 18 (to contend during awards season) in response to the best test scores in MGM's history. In May 2022, however, the film was brought to its current release date due to Amazon's acquisition of MGM in March. Mortensen criticized the decision, given the film was considered an awards contender, and said, "I think Amazon could certainly have respected the deal, as they said they were going to, and released it widely in theaters and let it have its run. But they figured it would be more cost-effective if they didn't have to bother with spending money on promoting it and putting in theaters, and sharing that money with theaters, frankly. That's what it comes down to. To me, it's greed."

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 86% based on 178 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads, "Steadily helmed by director Ron Howard, ''Thirteen Lives'' offers an incomplete but still gripping dramatization of an incredible true story." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

*
Official screenplay
{{William Nicholson 2022 films 2022 biographical drama films Films directed by Ron Howard Films produced by Brian Grazer Films produced by Ron Howard Films scored by Benjamin Wallfisch Films with screenplays by William Nicholson Films shot in Australia Films shot in Thailand Drama films based on actual events Imagine Entertainment films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films American biographical drama films British biographical drama films Canadian biographical drama films Tham Luang cave rescue Films set in 2018 2020s English-language films English-language Canadian films English-language biographical drama films