The Inside Story of Thailand’s Daring Cave Rescue

In June and July of 2018, the astonishing saga of the junior football team trapped in the caves at Tham Luang Nang Non in Thailand caught the world’s attention. Television news everywhere sent crews to cover the plight of the boys who had gone to explore the 10-kilometer cave networks before becoming trapped by a heavy monsoon downpour that flooded the entrance. Once the children had, miraculously, been apprehended, the question turned to the seemingly impossible question of rescuing them. This is the stage of the incident covered by a new film called, appropriately enough, The Rescue—a National Geographic-produced documentary focusing on the efforts of a motley crew of divers to reach and return the boys.

The Rescue is directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, the directors of the surprise hit Free Solo—another National Geographic joint—which won the…