10 Best Documentary Movies Of The Last Decade

There are few films that exist which have the power to grip audiences with a stomach-churning sensation of vertigo. One such film is Free Solo.

An Oscar-winning film from National Geographic, this project focuses on climber Alex Hanold’s journey to becoming the first person to scale “El Capitan”, a 3,000ft high rock formation in California’s Yosemite Valley, without a rope.

As is made clear throughout the film, free climbing is an extremely dangerous sport, and it doesn’t get any more dangerous than this climb. The stakes are set extremely high from the outset with the tension barely giving viewers a chance to breathe. The strain on Alex’s relationship with his girlfriend Sanni about worries for his safety alongside the ethical dilemma of filming what could well be the climber’s death only intensify the anxiety and severity of Hanold’s situation.

However, there’s likewise a staggering level of beauty here too. In the brief moments where viewers aren’t overcome by the palm-sweating heights, they’re allowed time to witness the eye-widening scenery of Hanold’s surroundings. Moreover, Free Solo embodies a remarkable sense of scale. Not just in the magnitude of the climber's task, but in what Alex’s accomplishment means on an existential level.