Colin Farrell and Viggo Mortensen star in the thriller film that is based on a true story.
Our TV movie pick for tonight (Monday, 29 December) is Thirteen Lives, the 2022 biographical survival thriller starring Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin).
The film recounts the true story of the Thai junior football team that became trapped in the Tham Luang cave network during an unexpected rainstorm and the tremendous global effort to rescue the 12 boys and their coach.
Farrell, Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams) and Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence) play the real-life rescue divers John Volanthen, Richard Harris and Richard Stanton.
The plot synopsis for Thirteen Lives reads: “Based on the true nail-biting mission that captivated the world, 12 boys and the coach of a Thai soccer team explore the Tham Luang cave when an unexpected rainstorm traps them in a chamber inside the mountain.
“Entombed behind a maze of flooded cave tunnels, they face impossible odds.
“A team of world-class divers navigate through miles of dangerous cave networks to discover that finding the boys is only the beginning.”
Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton in Thirteen Lives
Directed by Ron Howard (Apollo 13, Backdraft), Thirteen Lives was beloved by audiences and critics upon its release.
In particular, its grounded and procedural approach to the real-life events, its tense set-pieces and its hopeful story were singled out for praise.
Holding an 85% critics’ score and a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, Thirteen Lives is airing on TV tonight on RTÉ2 at 9pm.
The movie is also available to stream on Prime Video.
