The Red Sea Diving Resort

If you want to see a solid premise destroyed by mediocre execution, watch this movie. It’s ordinary in all its aspects, from the acting performances to the plot. But that premise! (05/02/2020)

Israeli agent Chris Evans and his team are determined to save Ethiopian refugees. How? They get a hotel in Sudan, look after tourists by day and help evacuate hundreds of people by night. And they know it's only a matter of time before it all goes wrong. Red Sea Diving Resort looks decent, has good actors and a reasonably interesting plot, but there's little suspense, emotion or anything to elevate it above average. There have been plenty of better films made in this genre. But there have been worse. (08/27/2019)

It’s a shame that such a narrow audience on Netflix saw this film. It explores an intriguing historical event with an impact on thousands of lives. I was naturally drawn to the cast (after watching Defending Jacob, I fully recognize Chris Evans as an actor with extraordinary talent), but also because I wanted to learn more about this operation. The comparison with Argo is apt; that film was a bit higher in quality, but this one still managed to captivate viewers. The idea of the hotel and the subsequent execution of the plan seemed incredibly crazy at the outset; it took a tremendous amount of courage to go through with it. The film balances between various genres well, sometimes feeling almost like a comedy before shifting to nerve-wracking moments. And the ending, where my blood was literally boiling, was intense. I recommend it. For me, 7.5/10. (07/29/2021)