{ "id": "ep077nte68", "slug": "the-rescue-2021-film", "title": "The Rescue (2021 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary", "label": "Documentary and biographical films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.documentary-by-subject-identity-people", "label": "Documentary films by subject: people, identity, and communities", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.documentary-by-subject-identity-people" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Asia (other) · 2021 and later: Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021", "label": "Asia (other) · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Rescue (2021) is a National Geographic documentary by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin about the 2018 Tham Luang Thai cave rescue, using 87 hours of unseen Thai Navy SEAL footage; it won TIFF's People's Choice Documentary Award.", "snippet": "The Rescue (2021) is a National Geographic documentary by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin about the 2018 Tham Luang Thai cave rescue, using 87 hours of unseen Thai Navy SEAL footage; it won TIFF's People's Choice Documentary Award.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.documentary-by-subject-identity-people", "markdown": "# The Rescue (2021 film)\n\n*The Rescue* is a 2021 feature documentary directed by [Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-chai-vasarhelyi) and Jimmy Chin for National Geographic Documentary Films that chronicles the 2018 rescue of twelve boys and their coach from the flooded Tham Luang cave in [Northern Thailand](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-thailand).[1](https://films.nationalgeographic.com/the-rescue) The film premiered in select theaters on October 8, 2021, distributed by Greenwich Entertainment, and began streaming on Disney+ on December 3, 2021.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_rescue_2021) • [3](https://press.disneyplus.com/news/national-geographic-the-rescue-streaming-on-disney-plus-december-3) It won the People's Choice Documentary Award at the 2021 [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival).[4](https://jimmychin.com/motion/the-rescue/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Directors | E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, the married duo behind *Free Solo* (2018) and *Meru* (2015)[1](https://films.nationalgeographic.com/the-rescue) |\n| Subject | The 2018 rescue of twelve boys and their coach from a flooded cave in Northern Thailand, focusing on the rescuers[1](https://films.nationalgeographic.com/the-rescue) |\n| Release | US theaters October 8, 2021 (Greenwich Entertainment); Disney+ streaming December 3, 2021[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_rescue_2021) • [3](https://press.disneyplus.com/news/national-geographic-the-rescue-streaming-on-disney-plus-december-3) |\n| Runtime and rating | 107 minutes (TRT 107:16); rated PG in the US[5](https://www.detpress.com/storage/uploads/C8/1A/C81A2B2F-8E97-D530-D804-E9CA2630D78B/THE_RESCUE_Press_Notes_Final.docx.pdf) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_rescue_2021) |\n| Signature footage | 87 hours of previously unseen footage shot by the Thai Navy SEALs during the mission[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/oct/10/british-diver-relives-gripping-thai-cave-rescue) |\n| Key crew | Editor Bob Eisenhardt; composer Daniel Pemberton; cinematographers David Katznelson, Picha Srisansanee, and Ian Seabrook[5](https://www.detpress.com/storage/uploads/C8/1A/C81A2B2F-8E97-D530-D804-E9CA2630D78B/THE_RESCUE_Press_Notes_Final.docx.pdf) |\n| Award | People's Choice Documentary Award, 2021 Toronto International Film Festival[4](https://jimmychin.com/motion/the-rescue/) |\n| Languages | English, Thai, Korean, and Norwegian; produced in the US and UK[5](https://www.detpress.com/storage/uploads/C8/1A/C81A2B2F-8E97-D530-D804-E9CA2630D78B/THE_RESCUE_Press_Notes_Final.docx.pdf) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Subject and approach\n\nThe film revisits the June and July 2018 events in which twelve members of the Wild Boars youth soccer team, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old assistant coach were trapped by monsoon flooding inside the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system in Chiang Rai province. They were found alive in a pitch-black chamber two kilometers deep into the cave, and the central problem the film examines is how to get them out.[5](https://www.detpress.com/storage/uploads/C8/1A/C81A2B2F-8E97-D530-D804-E9CA2630D78B/THE_RESCUE_Press_Notes_Final.docx.pdf) The rescue operation involved more than 10,000 people and more than 100 divers over 18 days.[7](https://documentary.org/column/rescue-recounts-2018-thailand-cave-mission)\n\n**Focus on the rescuers.** Unlike some other retellings, the film centers on the rescue divers rather than the boys, because the rights to the boys' story had been bought for a separate Netflix project.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/31/the-rescue-review-thai-cave-rescue-documentary-free-solo-directors) Its portraits include the British volunteer cave divers [Rick Stanton](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-stanton), a retired firefighter, and [John Volanthen](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-volanthen), an IT consultant, who located the team, as well as the Royal Thai Navy SEALs, US Air Force Special Tactics personnel, and the Australian cave-diving anesthesiologist [Richard Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-harris), whose sedation plan allowed the boys to be carried out through the flooded passages.[9](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/inside-the-risky-cave-dive-that-rescued-a-thai-soccer-team) • [8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/31/the-rescue-review-thai-cave-rescue-documentary-free-solo-directors) In the directors' statement, Vasarhelyi and Chin describe the film as being about moral responsibility: when people have the skill set to rescue someone, do they bear the burden to do so even at risk to themselves.[5](https://www.detpress.com/storage/uploads/C8/1A/C81A2B2F-8E97-D530-D804-E9CA2630D78B/THE_RESCUE_Press_Notes_Final.docx.pdf)\n\n## Production\n\nVasarhelyi and Chin joined the project after director Kevin Macdonald, who had originally been attached, left it; [National Geographic](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-geographic) brought them in following the success of their Oscar-winning *Free Solo*.[10](https://moveablefest.com/jimmy-chin-chai-vasarhelyi-rescue/) The shoot was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic: the planned trip to Thailand in spring 2020 was judged too risky, so interviews were conducted by [Zoom](https://www.edgepedia.org/zoom-software) across different cultures, languages, and time zones.[5](https://www.detpress.com/storage/uploads/C8/1A/C81A2B2F-8E97-D530-D804-E9CA2630D78B/THE_RESCUE_Press_Notes_Final.docx.pdf)\n\n**Assembling the material.** The directors faced a documentary with no usable footage of its central event, since filming inside the cave was prohibited during the rescue and everything there is dark, underwater, and muddy.[7](https://documentary.org/column/rescue-recounts-2018-thailand-cave-mission) They built the film from roughly 2,000 archival clips, including the Thai Navy SEAL material; interviews with rescuers and officials; visual-effects renderings of the cave based on a 3D scan; and reenactments performed by the divers themselves, including underwater work shot by cinematographer Ian Seabrook.[7](https://documentary.org/column/rescue-recounts-2018-thailand-cave-mission) • [11](https://theasc.com/article/the-rescue-heroic-extraction/) The SEAL footage, long rumored to exist, turned out to total 87 hours and had never been seen publicly; securing it came late in production and forced the directors to restructure the film about six months before release.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/oct/10/british-diver-relives-gripping-thai-cave-rescue) • [7](https://documentary.org/column/rescue-recounts-2018-thailand-cave-mission)\n\nThe producers were P.J. van Sandwijk, John Battsek, Vasarhelyi, and Chin, with Wes Tooke credited as screenwriter on the [British Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-council) database entry.[5](https://www.detpress.com/storage/uploads/C8/1A/C81A2B2F-8E97-D530-D804-E9CA2630D78B/THE_RESCUE_Press_Notes_Final.docx.pdf) • [12](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-rescue) Composer Daniel Pemberton wrote the score, and the soundtrack included the original song \"Believe\" by [Aloe Blacc](https://www.edgepedia.org/aloe-blacc).[3](https://press.disneyplus.com/news/national-geographic-the-rescue-streaming-on-disney-plus-december-3)\n\n## Reception\n\nThe film won the People's Choice Documentary Award at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, an honor its predecessor *Free Solo* had also received before winning the Academy Award.[4](https://jimmychin.com/motion/the-rescue/) • [13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jpmoLIAzMY) Critics responded strongly: Variety called it \"Extraordinary. A rousing film that celebrates humanity at its most selfless,\" and [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter) wrote that it \"keeps you on the edge of your seat for every minute, even if you already know the outcome.\"[14](https://greenwichentertainment.com/film/the-rescue/) The Guardian's review praised how the directors wove twenty-four-hour news coverage with footage filmed by locals and reconstructions starring the divers themselves.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/31/the-rescue-review-thai-cave-rescue-documentary-free-solo-directors)\n\n## Place among the rescue's screen adaptations\n\n*The Rescue* is one of several film and television treatments of the 2018 cave rescue. Tom Waller's Thai production *The Cave* (2019) used reconstructions and news footage; [Ron Howard](https://www.edgepedia.org/ron-howard)'s drama *Thirteen Lives* (2022) starred [Colin Farrell](https://www.edgepedia.org/colin-farrell) and [Viggo Mortensen](https://www.edgepedia.org/viggo-mortensen) as the British divers; and Netflix released both the miniseries *Thai Cave Rescue* (2022) and the documentary *The Trapped 13: How We Survived the Thai Cave* (2022), which tells the story from the boys' own perspective.[15](https://time.com/6215763/thai-cave-rescue-netflix-true-story/) Reviewers noted the complementary perspectives: *The Rescue* covers the technical and rescue-side story, while the Netflix projects center the trapped team.[15](https://time.com/6215763/thai-cave-rescue-netflix-true-story/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Rescue, Nat Geo Doc Films](https://films.nationalgeographic.com/the-rescue)\n2. [The Rescue (2021), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_rescue_2021)\n3. [National Geographic's The Rescue Begins Streaming on Disney+ December 3, Disney Plus Press](https://press.disneyplus.com/news/national-geographic-the-rescue-streaming-on-disney-plus-december-3)\n4. [The Rescue, Jimmy Chin official site](https://jimmychin.com/motion/the-rescue/)\n5. [THE RESCUE Press Notes, National Geographic Documentary Films](https://www.detpress.com/storage/uploads/C8/1A/C81A2B2F-8E97-D530-D804-E9CA2630D78B/THE_RESCUE_Press_Notes_Final.docx.pdf)\n6. [British diver relives gripping Thai cave rescue, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/oct/10/british-diver-relives-gripping-thai-cave-rescue)\n7. ['The Rescue' Recounts the 2018 Thailand Cave Mission, International Documentary Association](https://documentary.org/column/rescue-recounts-2018-thailand-cave-mission)\n8. [The Rescue review, The Guardian / The Observer](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/31/the-rescue-review-thai-cave-rescue-documentary-free-solo-directors)\n9. [Inside the risky cave dive that rescued a Thai soccer team, National Geographic](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/inside-the-risky-cave-dive-that-rescued-a-thai-soccer-team)\n10. [How The Rescue Directors Surfaced the Mechanics of the Impossible, The Moveable Fest](https://moveablefest.com/jimmy-chin-chai-vasarhelyi-rescue/)\n11. [The Rescue: Heroic Extraction, American Cinematographer](https://theasc.com/article/the-rescue-heroic-extraction/)\n12. [The Rescue, British Council UK Films Database](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/the-rescue)\n13. [THE RESCUE Q&A, TIFF 2021, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jpmoLIAzMY)\n14. [The Rescue, Greenwich Entertainment](https://greenwichentertainment.com/film/the-rescue/)\n15. [Netflix's Authentic Thai Cave Rescue and the True Story Filmmakers Can't Stop Retelling, TIME](https://time.com/6215763/thai-cave-rescue-netflix-true-story/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Documentary and biographical films › Documentary films by subject: people, identity, and communities*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-rescue-2021-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-rescue-2021-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Rescue (2021 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-rescue-2021-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Rescue (2021 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-rescue-2021-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-rescue-2021-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-rescue-2021-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Rescue (2021 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-rescue-2021-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Rescue is a National Geographic documentary by E." }