Even if you know everything about the Chilean
gold mine collapse that trapped 33 miners
underground in 2010, you’ll be riveted to
the edge of your seat by Patricia Riggen’s
captivating and rousing depiction of the
real-life events. Antonio Banderas, Lou Diamond
Phillips, Juliette Binoche, and Cote de
Pablo star in this suspenseful crowd-pleaser
that shifts between the claustrophobic and
unimaginable ordeal of the miners trapped
2,300 feet underground, and the struggles
on the Earth’s surface, where family members
helplessly wait, the government pushes
for action, and the mining company flounders.
Riggen skillfully and potently builds the
tension—a feat all the more remarkable considering
that the ending is a foregone conclusion—in
this tear-jerking, heart-squeezing,
ultimately uplifting testament to the strength
of the human spirit. .