'
Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

The Last Descent

Play trailer 2:23 Poster for The Last Descent Released Sep 16, 2016 1h 45m Drama Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
A caver explores an unmapped section of Nutty Putty Cave and becomes stuck 150 feet underground.
Watch on Peacock Stream Now

Where to Watch

The Last Descent

Critics Reviews

View All (2) Critics Reviews
Josh Terry Deseret News (Salt Lake City) The Last Descent is tense and powerful, a signal that the carefree summer blockbuster season is officially over. Rated: 3/4 Sep 16, 2016 Full Review Sean P. Means Salt Lake Tribune The moving drama The Last Descent gets past the headlines of a Utah tragedy to show the life of one man and how he, in life and in death, touched so many others. Rated: 3.5/4 Sep 15, 2016 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (25) audience reviews
Cameron H ”The Last Descent” tells the tragic true story of John Jones, medical student and caver who explores an unmapped section of Nutty Putty Cave in Utah, and becomes stuck 150 feet underground, and the attempt to rescue him. The attempt to rescue John unfortunately was unsuccessful and he passed away in the cave from heart failure as a result of the way his body was positioned. His body was never recovered and remains in the permanently sealed cave to this day. This was a really sad and hard movie to watch, especially when I knew the horrible outcome of the story going into it. It’s a slow-paced, yet deeply emotional film that pays respect to John’s life. It’s a story about faith and family, courage and determination, and finding peace in hardship. The cinematography and performances were excellent. I was captivated the whole time. If you struggle with claustrophobia or anxiety, this film might be difficult to watch, but it’s a powerful, heartbreaking true story that I definitely recommend checking out. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/02/25 Full Review Julian S As an elegy, it’s tender. As storytelling, it’s unnecessary—anyone who knows the facts won’t find them deepened here, only smoothed over. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/27/25 Full Review Tanya G I stumbled upon this little gem of a movie while home sick one night, and loved it!! The scenes while they're crawling through the cave had my hands so sweaty, and I was getting so anxious I almost turned it off. But once I got past my anxiety, I hung around for what turned out to be a very good movie. And the ending -- as I said, I was home sick, and bawling like a baby isn't conducive to a stuffy head!! After the movie, I went to bed, and proceded to google stories on the tragedy, for hours!! There's some great articles & videos out there! Anyway, see this movie! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/05/24 Full Review Leire P I still cannot believe John Jones died that way. This movie is quite realistic showing what John went through during those 27 hours that he was stuck in the cave, including his hallucinations and conversations that he had with the rescuers and his wife. I cried so much and felt this story very deeply. My condolences to all John’s siblings, parents and Emily. If it hurted me, I cannot even imagine how much it did hurt them. Highly recommend watching this movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/09/24 Full Review Bogdan O Could have been so much more. The memories and dreams scenes that basically fill up half the time of the movie could have easily been overlooked but since there are only 5 minutes of cave action before John gets stuck, you are only left with thoughts and could have been. You had more minutes of screen time on Gatorade .... And the conclusion being, his wife could not love another man but she got remarried ... Just watch a youtube video and save yourself some time ... Had to skip most of the cringe scenes and I'm still mad about losing so much time on a virtually nothing movie Sorry for the harsh comments Rated 1 out of 5 stars 07/21/24 Full Review Stu D Unfortunately, the director and budget took a wild but true story and made it painfully cheesy. Just read any factual news article about the incident and spare yourself the cringe. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/24 Full Review Read all reviews
The Last Descent

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Movie Info

Synopsis A caver explores an unmapped section of Nutty Putty Cave and becomes stuck 150 feet underground.
Director
Isaac Halasima
Producer
Bryan Fugal, Aaron Alviso Stephenson
Screenwriter
Isaac Halasima
Distributor
Excel Entertainment
Production Co
Dark Rider Productions, Deep Blue Films
Genre
Drama, Biography
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 16, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 20, 2018
Runtime
1h 45m
Most Popular at Home Now