After much anticipation and a rather long wait, the UK has finally got Disney Plus!! In between re-watches of Pixar favourites, a guilty pleasure viewing of High School Musical and, thanks to the hubby, a seemingly endless stream of The Simpsons, we did catch something new – the Oscar winning documentary, Free Solo, directed by husband and wife team, Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vaserhelyi.

Free soloing is a technical (and terrifying) form of rock climbing where the climber ascends alone and without the use of ropes, harnesses and other forms of protective equipment, instead they rely purely on their individual strengths and skills. The heights that free soloist climb are insane and even the tiniest slip could result in serious injury or even death, which means that, even amongst the climbing community, free soloing is considered to be ‘a niche of a niche’.

This documentary tells the story of Alex Honnold, a free soloist who is wants to tackle ‘El Capitan’, a towering vertical rock formation that sits in the Yosemite National Park and reaches heights of 3000 feet. If he succeeds, he will be the only person to ever succeed in free climbing the giant monolith and his feat will go down in the record books as, arguably, one of the greatest athletic achievements of all time.

As unbelievable as the challenge may be, the real focus of this documentary is the man behind this incredible feat. Director’s Vaserhelyi and Chin, both keen climbers themselves, do a great job of demonstrating the amount of passion, patience and perseverance you need to complete a task like this.

From his sparse living conditions and seeming inability to form real emotional attachments to the borderline obsessive, yet wholly necessary, need to go over every detail of the route until it becomes muscle memory and the terrifying close ups of the minute variations in the rock face that bridge the gap between life and death.

The majority of the film crew are climbers themselves which, along with the use of drones, offered some spectacular shots of the breathtaking scenery and a background insight into the rather unique challenges that come with filming this kind of documentary, including the knowledge that their very presence could distract their friend; a distraction that could cost his life.

The film is brilliantly paced, with enough to hold your interest from the very beginning until the intense, anxiety-inducing climactic third act. So, if you’re looking for something a little different to help pass the time then check out this Oscar winning documentary.