Netflix documentary The Trapped 13: How We Survived the Thai Cave takes a slightly different approach to the uplifting saga of the 2018 Tham Luong cave rescue – an uplifting saga that desperately needs a different approach, since it’s only the latest of several movies about this near-tragedy (three in the last year alone). Unlike the other, higher-profile films, Thai director Pailin Wedel (Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice) tells the story from the viewpoint of some of the trapped boys, emphasizing their experiences over those of the many people who came to their aid. Note: There have been more movies and TV series made about this story than years that have passed since it happened. So inevitably, this new documentary is mostly derivative, but ultimately worthy for its perspective alone.
The Gist: “Maybe the truth is not what people expect.” That’s the hook – the promise that a fresh angle on the cave rescue will reveal new insights. June 23, 2018, the Chiang Rai province in rural Northern Thailand: Coach Eak had just wrapped soccer practice for his team of 12 boys. He was 24 at the time, and like a big brother to his players. “We’d hang out like family,” he says. They were all from poor families, and Eak insists that soccer keeps young boys from joining scooter gangs and doing drugs. It was hot and sunny that day. They had about an hour before one of the kids had an appointment with a tutor, which was enough time to bike to Tham Luong, say a prayer to the local spirit, and explore the cave. A sign says the cave is closed from July to November due to flooding, but it’s still June. They should be fine, right?
We hear the stories of six boys – Tee, Titan, Tle, Adul, Mark and Mix. It was wet, so they kicked off their shoes and left their backpacks behind to pick up later. They were teasing each other and having fun as they clambered through the cave. For some, it was their first time in Tham Luong – “I wanted to show them something beautiful,” Eak says. On the way back, they came to a junction that had been dry previously, but was now flooded. Eak jumped in and tried to find a way out in the murk, to no avail. He held his breath until he couldn’t stand it any longer and the kids pulled him out. The water will go down, Eak told them, keeping the boys calm. They found a spot to sleep for the night and huddled together to fend off the chill. “All we could hear was our breathing and the rhythmic beating of our hearts,” Adul remembers.
Authorities, park rangers and residents formed a small city outside the cave, pumping out water, organizing a rescue and praying, praying, praying. This is a deeply spiritual community. Meanwhile, Eak led the boys deeper in, searching for an exit. He had them dig and dig through the dirt for a way out, just to keep their minds off their growing hunger. They joked about KFC delivering them food, dreamt about their mothers’ cooking, imagined digging themselves out and emerging in the nearby orange grove where they gorged themselves on fruit. We learn that Eak’s younger brother died, and then his mother followed, and his father. Orphaned, he spent 10 years as a Buddhist novice – training that suddenly had great purpose, as he had the boys focus on breathing, prayer and meditation instead of their need for food. At one point, they thought they heard a helicopter or drilling from above, but it was a massive rush of water, “like a tidal wave,” Eak says. They scrambled to higher ground. At this point, they were imagining sounds. “Our brains were glitching,” Titan says. They mustered what little energy they had to keep digging. And then they started thinking about death.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Well, The Trapped 13 is part of Netflix’s “Thai Cave Rescue collection,” which includes the six-part scripted series Thai Cave Rescue. Over on Disney+, you’ve got NatGeo doc The Rescue, which is a riveting narrative from the cave-diving rescuers’ perspective. And just two months ago, Amazon released the Ron Howard-directed Thirteen Lives, which is a damn terrific drama that keenly balances multiple points-of-view.
Performance Worth Watching: Eak’s commentary is the narrative glue holding the doc together, and the arc of his personal story is truly inspiring: from orphan to inspiration, the man who humbly inspired a dozen boys to hold onto hope during dire circumstances.
Memorable Dialogue: “I can’t just do what I want anymore. I have to be a good kid now, try to do well in school, and not let other people down, because they rescued us.” – Titan
Sex and Skin: None.
Our Take: No argument – the firsthand stories of the boys are absolutely valuable. We get a sense of the despair they felt, sure, and Wedel doesn’t gloss over the harsher realities of their situations. But more so, we get a sense of their hope, and who they are as people, their personalities emerging as the documentary humanizes them and shows us the goofy young boys they inevitably, unapologetically are. At one point, Eak kept their minds occupied by asking, What if a naked girl suddenly showed up? “I’m tired,” Adul replied. “I’d make her freaking dig.”
Of course, at the time The Trapped 13 was filmed, the boys were older. At the end of the film, they reflect on their experience with a little wisdom – how they’re inspired to live good lives and be good people, so all the trouble and effort that went into their rescue won’t be in vain. They were heartbroken to hear that Thai Navy SEAL Beirut Pakbara died during the attempt; we hear from his widow, who offers tearful words of encouragement.
Between The Trapped 13 and The Rescue, we now have a fairly definitive timeline and collection of perspectives on the Thai rescue saga. Both are inspiring; the former is inevitably more emotional where the latter is technical and detailed. We also have a definitive dramatization in the Howard film (which deserves Oscar consideration). And I risk sounding cynical by saying this: I think we have enough iterations and reiterations of this story now. What happened was an emotional rollercoaster of life and death – the whole of the human condition condensed into a 17-day narrative. No need to go back to this well for a while now, except maybe when the boys are older and we want to see who and where they are then, Seven Up-style.
Our Call: The Trapped 13 is a rock-solid documentary offering a crucial perspective on an otherwise well-worn story. STREAM IT.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com.
