Free Solo

Rating: 5+/5

Free Solo is undeniably riveting and quite possibly one of the best documentaries I have ever seen.

Alex Honnold is one of the world's most famous rock climbers. He is known for his climbing skill with ropes, but specifically without; in one of the most horrifically dangerous sports known as "free soloing". For years, Alex had been content with living out of his van and doing the best free solo climbs he could find, but he always knew there was a climb that was so perilous to free solo, that no one had attempted it, and he wanted to be the first.

Free Solo chronicles Alex's life from the point he made the decision to train for an unthinkable challenge; free soloing the 3,000 ft. El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Getting ready for such a feat is no easy task on its' own, but adding in the complications of how to film it while not putting Alex in any more danger than he already is, brings an incredible amount of strain onto the project. Though Alex may outwardly show no fear for this climb, through the documentary, it is clear that even if he views what is frightening to be drastically different than what most of us do, there is more than just physical preparation he'll need for the climb.

Free Solo is a film that is so intense, my palms were slick with sweat by the end. I honestly didn't know much of the outcome of Alex's attempt on El Capitan, so I was literally on the edge of my seat for the entirety of the film's final half hour. I have seen my fair share of documentaries, and I may be wrong on this account, but I feel there are few works of cinema that were as tricky and dangerous to film as this. Not only did the people operating the cameras have to be suspended in mid air, thousands of feet from the ground, but they ran the risk of having their subject matter potentially attempting his solo climb in secret, deciding not to do it at all, or falling to his death. There were countless factors that could have gone wrong, and because of the way Free Solo was designed, you can see the stress taking its' toll on the cameramen and interviewees involved.

Alex Honnold is a very unique person, in that he seems far less worried about his own mortality than the majority of humankind. He doesn't kid himself about the dangers of free soloing, but instead seems to truly believe that if he were to die, no one would care; at least that's his thought process in the beginning. Whether he would have changed his mindset on his own, or the process of making the documentary helped him get there, by watching Free Solo, you are able to witness a man who had distanced himself from the social world, go through a fairly major emotional transformation.

What Free Solo does in a brilliant way, is create an unbelievably nerve wracking build up to the film's major moment. There is so much that the viewer needs to learn abut the dangers of free solo climbing, as well as understand the actual process and skill involved, before being ready to witness Alex's climb up El Capitan. To see him fall so many times in practice, thankfully with ropes, creates an immense amount of unease as you get closer and closer to the actual climb. Free Solo has successfully been one of the most stressful film watching experiences I have ever had.

For me, documentaries are rarely something that I feel the need to watch more than once, but Free Solo is one that will most certainly break that pattern. I can't wait to watch it again, to learn more from it now that my blood pressure won't be rising every five minutes of run time. Free Solo is easily one of the most well deserving Academy Awards winners I have been privileged enough to see.

2019 Winner Best Documentary Feature- Free Solo