‘Free Solo’ Review: Scarier than Hereditary
When I first saw the brilliant and soul-scarring horror film Hereditary earlier this year, it didn’t leave my mind for a good three days due to the sheer terror and creep-factor that I’d ingested into my delicate brain. I hailed it as one of the best horror films I’d ever seen, if only because it succeeded in leaving a mark on me that made me ponder what I had seen for days afterwards, jarred by the images I had seen and having no ability to unshake them.
And then I saw Free Solo.
Unlike Hereditary, Free Solo is NOT a horror film; rather it is a documentary from directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi about young free solo climber Alex Honnold, and his attempt to scale El Capitan’s almost sheer 3,000-ft slab of granite in Yosemite without a rope or safety equipment of any kind. And if you tend to get a little scared at simply standing on top of an office chair the way that I do, you can imagine the terror and stress associated with watching someone climb 3,000 feet with nothing but your fingertips and toes for safety. Never has my appreciation for flat land and gravity been greater than after I walked out of this film, completely out of breath and happy to be alive.
Free Solo spends a little time letting us get to know Alex, because holy hell, what kind of person would actually do this kind of thing voluntarily. While he happens to make a pretty solid living with his climbing career, he lives out of a van and charmingly uses a spatula as an eating utensil. He lives simply, and finds it easier to be around other climbers than normal people who enjoy not living at death’s door as a profession. You could say he has a certain degree of introversion and social ineptitude due to his unyielding obsession with climbing, which began at a young age as a result of not having many friends. Disregarding his slightly lonely upbringing, it would seem you’d almost have to be antisocial in order to exist in this line of work, for the film does highlight some notable climbers who have plunged to their deaths doing what they love. You’d have to be emotionally removed or be in a constant state of agonizing grief. Alex has definitely chosen the former.
Which is what makes Sanni’s introduction all the more compelling. Sanni McCandless is a girl that Alex meets while at a speaking event in Seattle, and she eventually becomes his girlfriend, despite Alex’s tendency to end relationships to focus on climbing. She acts almost as the emotional center of the film, bridging the gap between an emotionally unavailable Alex and the viewer. Some of the more comical moments come with Sanni explaining to us how she tries to get Alex to communicate with her like a normal boyfriend, and then the film directly shows us Alex’s attempts to put this into practice. It’s pretty darn adorable, and despite Alex’s reluctance to open up emotionally, you can slowly see his layers peel back throughout the film, even to the detriment to his focus on climbing. As she cements herself in his life, Alex’s big, boyish smile presents itself more often, and for something other than the joy of climbing.
However, the focus of Free Solo is primarily Alex’s training for El Capitan, which requires painstaking attention to every finger grip, and every jut of granite to plant your feet. Through injury and false starts, we see Alex incrementally train his way up El Cap, and some of the scenes will make your throat sink into your stomach. Or your stomach go into your throat. I’m sure I experienced them both. In some of the scenes, I found myself clawing at my face and covering my eyes as if I Michael Myers was on the screen; nope, Alex was just up REALLY freaking high. And there are times when Alex even acknowledges the fear of certain pathways up the cliff, and tells us about his process of getting outside of the fear. It should be noted that I never got outside of my fear one time while watching this film. The filmmakers and Sanni share in our nail-biting apprehension as he ascends, which is simultaneously comforting and not helpful at all.
But I loved this film. I loved it because it put me in awe again at what we, as human beings, are capable of. Sure, it made me feel woefully inadequate an unaccomplished in many ways, but just witnessing this type of fearlessness was truly inspiring. Until I watched this film I had no idea that there were people batshit crazy enough – and talented enough – to accomplish such death-defying feats, and I’m grateful that a spotlight has been shown on someone like Alex Honnold, the men and women who continue to climb, and those who have fallen before him.
Perhaps I can take a tiny piece of that fearlessness, and not shake uncontrollably when I have to stand on a ladder one day.
