Deeply upsetting and disturbing documentary. The movie tells the story of Alex Honnold, one of the world’s “best” mountain climbers, and one of the few who specializes in free soloing–i.e., doing the climb without ropes or other protective gear. It specifically tracks his summit of El Capitan in Yosemite. The movie is beautifully shot, with some truly stunning choreography and cinematography that creates a visceral experience when watching, especially on a big screen.

That said, I found the whole thing to be beyond distasteful and really disappointing. The easy target here is Alex himself, who spends the entire movie attempting to justify this behavior by couching it in terms of “dreams”, ambition, “success”, etc. But there is never any discussion of whether this is a feat worth trying in the first place–what does it prove? What is the functional distinction between doing a “perfect” climb up the mountain with a rope (that never gets used) vs. doing a “perfect” climb without a rope (that can’t get used)? I get it, people do dumb things all the time that I won’t understand, but this seems like a particularly peculiar practice to venerate.

There could still be a movie here, but this particular film really shies away from approaching the subject with a critical lens (worth noting that the filmmakers are clearly friends with the subject, which adds to the ethical questions surrounding the whole thing.) Never does the movie grapple with the question of psychopathology, other than with a very silly visit to a neuroscientist who grandly proclaims that his amygdala isn’t activating. There are some really heartbreaking conversations about the pressure his parents placed on him to be perfect, the lack of physical and verbal affection he received as a child, and the difficulty he has in forming attachments to others as an adult–but none of these conversations are taken seriously, and they’re not the focus of the film. When he gets to the top, the music swells, and we’re supposed to cheer. What gets lost is any exploration into the depths of damaged masculinity or the perversion of nature’s spectacle for the ephemeral pursuit of being “first.” The whole thing left me feeling sick and deeply sad for days. Avoid with prejudice.