‘Watch this movie – your hearts will be on fire’: Thirteen Lives viewers blown away by Thai cave rescue film

Thirteen Lives, the new film that chronicles the 2018 Thai cave rescue, has arrived on Amazon Prime Video – and viewers are blown away by it.

The Ron Howard-directed feature is based on the true story of the 18-day rescue mission to save a football team trapped in a cave in Thailand. The group had become stranded deep within the tunnels after a flood.

Thirteen Lives stars Colin Farrell and Viggo Mortensen as rescuers John Volanthen and Richard Stanton, respectively. Farrell recently revealed that he experienced panic attacks while filming underwater scenes for the film.

The movie only came out today (5 August), but fans are already taking to Twitter to share how much they loved it.

“Highly recommend watching Thirteen Lives on Amazon Prime,” posted one viewer. “@RealRonHoward does an incredible directing job. The ingenuity and teamwork shown to rescue the young boys is amazing.”

Another fan wrote: “What a brilliant, brilliant film #ThirteenLives and what a rescue. Hats off to all volunteers and the boys. What a gripping example of humanity, courage, prayer and determination.”

“You have to watch this move, your hearts will be on fire,” wrote a third.

A fourth posted: “Thirteen Lives is a harrowing, uplifting and constantly gripping docudrama about the miraculous Thai cave rescue effort that uses its ripped-from-headlines story to celebrate the extraordinary heroism that comes from a community of ordinary people working together. 9/10.”

Another said: “Thirteen Lives is terrific! Thrilling, intense and claustrophobic, with some of the most nerve-wracking underwater sequences I’ve seen in recent memory. Masterfully directed with great performances. Simply put, it is one of the best films I’ve seen this year.”

Read The Independent’s review of the film here.

Thirteen Lives follows on from the 2021 National Geographic documentary about the mission, The Rescue. Read our interview with cave diver Stanton, who featured in that film, here.