Thirteen Lives movie review: Prime Video movie is an exhilarating ride that never lets up

We have a brand new film from Ron Howard hitting Prime Video this weekend in Thirteen Lives. With the number of movies coming out this weekend, should you make this one a priority? Let’s dive in.

Thirteen Lives follows the incredible story of a group of young boys and their soccer coaches that get trapped in an underground cave and a rescue team has to dive down and get them. The film stars Viggo Mortensen, Collin Farrell, and Joel Edgerton.

The story is fresh in many of our minds because it was featured in the 2021 documentary, The Rescue. With the material being so fresh on our minds, it can be equally a good and bad thing we are getting a feature film based on the story after being released so close to last year’s movie. Wild enough, you have another film called Cave Rescue that is being released this weekend which highlights the same story in a feature film style.

You can tell when watching this film that we have a man that knows what he is doing behind the camera. Ron Howard is a master at having the camera in the right place at the right time, no matter what sequence we were in the film. The way he captured some of these claustrophobic scenes put you smack dab in the middle of these intense sequences that even got me feeling like I was in the cave.

Thirteen Lives is an emotional roller coaster

The movie has so many highs and lows that it’s such an emotional roller coaster of a ride that you are always on edge. The last thirty minutes of this film will live you in shambles. I am so sad I couldn’t enjoy this inside a movie theater because I know it would’ve played incredibly on the big screen.

Thirteen Lives is the type of movie that has a strong ensemble cast. I don’t believe anyone is better than the other throughout the film, but everyone is very good at playing their parts. When you have people like Viggo Mortensen, Collin Farrell, and Joel Edgerton in a movie working together, you know you are in for a real treat.

If I had a bone to pick with the film, it would be the run time. It sits a little over two and a half hours and you felt every minute of it. I could have easily found certain moments in the film that could’ve been trimmed down for the film to hover around that two-hour mark. It honestly took away from the film being that long.

Overall, Thirteen Lives is one of the best-directed films I have seen in 2022. Ron Howard continues to show that he can produce high-level films over fifty years after making his first film. You don’t want to miss this one.

Thirteen Lives hits Prime Video on August 5.