What a powerful documentary.

I saw a tweet on Twitter from John Rocha, an online movie reviewer, about a doc on Disney + called The Rescue about the mission to rescue a group of 12 Thai soccer kids and their coach who had been trapped in a flooded cave in Northern Thailand in 2018.

Rocha was absolutely correct. This was riveting.

I must have missed this story when it was happening in 2018, because I knew nothing about the story. Watching this documentary with the people involved in this amazing, daring mission was fulfilling. What the accomplishment of this rescue says about human beings, across several variations of culture and beliefs is just life-affirming.

These cave divers, Rick Stanton, John Volanthen, Richard Harris, along with hundreds of others, accomplished an unbelievable task in the rescue of this group of kids.

With the cameras everywhere at the time and the inclusion of social media, there was all kinds of footage to mix with the personal interviews. It made you feel like you were watching this as it happened. You felt the anguish and the fear. The twists were everywhere from the weather to the loss of oxygen. You could feel the constriction, the claustrophobia.

The ultimate plan they came up with to rescue these kids was insane. Desperation put the insane into possibility.

This National Geographic documentary on Disney + is one that you must see. It is one of the best docs of the year and worth the time investment. It is emotional and wondrous.

5 stars