The Alex Honnold we met in 2020’s Free Solo is no longer, apparently. Once a laser-focused, emotionally-detached athlete honed in on his solitary conquests and seemingly unbothered by the toll his pursuits took on those closest to him. That Honnold was an immediately divisive figure, captivating audiences to the tune of an Academy Award but facing backlash in other circles for being an asshole undeserving of his instant lionization in larger culture. Clearly, age, marriage, and parenthood have changed Honnold, and in The Devil’s Climb, directed by Renan Öztürk, we meet an almost entirely different person (even from the Honnold we met in 2022’s Explorer: The Last Tepui, also directed by Öztürk), one who is more patient, more kind, and more intimately invested in his friendship with Tommy Caldwell. In some ways, it’s a welcome shift that reveals a richer emotional reservoir for Honnold than what we saw in Free Solo, but it also, unfortunately, makes for a far less interesting documentary, especially for those coming to glimpse the seemingly peculiar psychology that made the climber such a Zeitgeist figure.
In truth, The Devil’s Climb is actually more a Caldwell film than a Honnold one, and it follows the duo as they take on a daunting challenge: climbing the notoriously dangerous Devils Thumb mountain in Alaska. Caldwell, recovering from a series of debilitating Achilles injuries endured over the past few years, sees the climb as a chance to rebuild his strength and reclaim his sense of self and his place in the climbing world. Honnold, still at the top of his game, joins him not to prove anything, but to support his friend’s comeback. And more than the particulars of the climb, it’s this friendship narrative that proves to be the film’s core. To that end, it makes for compelling enough viewing, with both athletes possessing demonstrated presence (for different reasons), but the film also quickly falls victim to the polished, formulaic style and pandering voiceover characteristic of Nat Geo TV productions. The visuals are undeniably breathtaking, with sweeping shots of glaciers and remote alpine peaks — as jitter-inducing as anything in Free Solo when the duo stand atop a pointed peak barely wide enough to fit their four feet — but the film leans to heavily into this aesthetic to compensate for its lack of real substance elsewhere. The grandeur of the natural environment is exploited at the expense of emotional spontaneity, which can makes some moments feel palpably manufactured. B-roll of Honnold and Tommy staring off into the distance or looking at photos only add to this feeling.
What works better — best — in The Devil’s Climb is its focus on the climbers’ relationship. The tension between Honnold’s introverted, stoic nature and Caldwell’s affable personality creates a subtle but engaging narrative arc, particularly in moments when the latter considers Honnold’s seeming inability to find joy in experiences that aren’t found in the crags of a mountainside. Another memorable scene occurs during their initial 2,600-mile bike ride from Colorado to the border of Alaska and British Columbia, when a group of hikers swarm Honnold, treating him like a celebrity, while Caldwell quietly slips away, seemingly content to be overlooked. These small, understated human moments provide the film’s best narrative fodder and psychological portraiture, far more than the self-consciously scripted narration than ushers viewers toward the inspirational or maudlin.
But in total, the documentary struggles to maintain the excitement of either Honnold or Caldwell’s (The Dawn Wall) earlier cinematic presentations, or even the high-stakes drama of other climbing films like Meru, The Alpinist, or Touching the Void. The climb itself, though technically impressive, lacks the life-or-death tension that made Free Solo so riveting; not without attempts, though — the number of times the duo talk about how they could die on the climb is downright ridiculous, especially given Honnold’s after-the-fact admission that biking on the highway was probably the most dangerous thing they undertook. Even the most ostensibly hazardous moments of the expedition — such as summiting the narrow “Witches” spires — are portrayed with a sense of calm professionalism, which, while admirable, is at odds with the film’s voiceover assertions and diminishes the sense of risk that the film seeks to establish. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Honnold and Caldwell seem to have little left to prove, which makes The Devil’s Climb a pretty but entirely superficial watch.
DIRECTOR: Renan Öztürk; CAST: Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold; DISTRIBUTOR: National Geographic Documentary Films; STREAMING: October 18; RUNTIME: 1 hr. 14 min.
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