Thirteen Lives, the “gripping” drama based on an “incredible” true story, is now streaming for free in the UK.
The 2022 film, produced and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard, is a retelling of the Tham Luang cave rescue, a real-life incident which saw 12 teenagers and one adult trapped in a Thailand cave after heavy rainfall.
Thirteen Lives is now available to stream for free in the UK, with the film being added to BBC iPlayer earlier this week. Viewers will have to hurry, however, as the fact-based drama is set to be removed from the streamer on 26 August.
The film, which was originally released on Prime Video, boasts a stacked cast, with Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, Viggo Mortensen and Tom Bateman appearing in the lead roles. The supporting cast is made up of local actors, while William Nicholson wrote the screenplay.
If you need convincing further, then look no further than its impressive approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which currently stands at 85% from 182 reviews. In the site’s critical consensus, they called it a “gripping dramatisation” of an “incredible true story”.
Prime Video
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In our own review, we wrote: “Howard is also careful to ensure there’s a focus on the Thai divers involved too, as well as the other local people key to the whole rescue… [It’s] certainly watchable and the diving sequences are excruciatingly tense and brilliantly delivered.”
“Even now, years later, that level of teamwork is breathtaking, and Howard’s choice to chronicle those efforts gives Thirteen Lives its own kind of staying power,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter, while The Guardian praised the director for “conveying” the inherent “claustrophobia”.
“The story it tells is incredible enough to survive any deficiencies in the telling,” opined IndieWire, while Newsday wrote that it was a “gripping” and “suspenseful” film that would have you “holding your breath until the very end”.
Prime Video
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The Observer was also full of praise, writing: “Despite the fact that we all know the outcome, and that it’s the third film in as many years to tell the story, Ron Howard’s account of the drama is compulsively watchable and breathlessly tense.”
While Thirteen Lives has just arrived on BBC iPlayer, the streamer will soon be losing an iconic horror film starring Cillian Murphy in the coming days, with zombie feature 28 Days Later set to be removed on 11 August.
Thirteen Lives is streaming on BBC iPlayer now.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.