As a Thai person, I've followed this story very closely since the news first broke out and have watched every movie that's come out following the events. Though the others are also well-done, this depiction is my personal favorite solely due to the POV of the actual Wild Boars and their coach as it was the only project to have access to the real life survivors of the team who shared their firsthand experience. Production companies are understandably excited to tell the story of action and heroism, but I think it is too often forgotten in these films that the boys and their coach are also some of the main heroes in this story. Thirteen Lives and The Rescue were fantastic to learn more about the cave divers and their experience, but the story always felt very detached from the boys and gave very little to show them as actual humans and not just a package to deliver (though the little footage we see of the boys after they are found is unbeatable in The Rescue). I was always left feeling like I'd wanted to know more about what happened inside the cave with the team.
This series also included a lot more focus on the cultural nuance that was missed out in the other films which I felt were an incredibly powerful part of the story: the meditation that was key to preserving the soccer team's mind and energy and allowed them to stay alive longer without food and little water, the Buddhist faith that kept the team and their loved ones mentally strong, and showcasing the Thai values of generosity and positivity. Overall, it was a very enjoyable and heart wrenching watch. Especially knowing that it was Beam's best and final performance.
I did deduct a point for the extra dramatization that seemed rather unnecessary... I do love Yaya as an actress but her role as the water engineer was entirely falsified and inaccurate in a way that discredited the actual water team that did that work. What I really didn't understand, was why they would change the divers. Who the hell is American David Ellsworth?! That seemed pretty bad to me and I'd already hated the way they'd changed the boys' names in Thirteen Lives. Maybe it had something to do with rights or American ego but another star deduction for that.
I also understand other reviewers' issues with some of the acting but I didn't think it was too bad and was able to look past it as I know it is some of these established actors' first times acting outside of their first language and I can tell the script was written in English and then translated to Thai as some of the dialogue seemed off at times. The American actors, however, I can't say the same to lol.
