Every movie year there’s a high and low film for me. It’s a strong battle between everything around the movie that has incredible selling points that will stay with me for a long while after I see it, coupled with something that either derails the movie or sends the deck of cards flying and destroys the film. The 2026 final round is Michael vs. Everest: The Other Side. I don’t know who “wins” but either way I’m the loser, but you all probably knew that already.
The doc is about Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison. They are an adventure junkie couple, raising Hilaree’s kids from a divorce in between giant mountain climbs. This film is about their big whale: they want to climb the Chinese side of Mt. Everest (only 5 have done so), and then, like maniacs, ski back down the way they came (NO ONE has done that).
Everest: The Other Side is the 3rd(!) movie about mountain climbing this year. I don’t know if everyone knew what each other was doing, but Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi the directors went big on as much footage from as many angles as possible. I guess part of the thrill seeking is you want to prove you did it right? But because of that, cinematographers Chin, Clair Popkin and Christopher Murphy make the feats look as impressive, majestic, and thrilling as possible. The team at base camp does a great job making it clear where to shoot the camera so we see all the sherpas and climbers pushes some sort of threshold on human performance, while making sure we’re propelling the climb forward bit by bit getting more and more scared and excited. As you might expect, there’s a summiting of Mt. Everest at some point, and the way the team shoots it will make goosebumps appear and raise you out of your seat, feeling like part of that summiting team which I’ve never seen pulled off like this before. The last 20 minutes you’ll be on the edge of your seat too, as soon as you see the skis come out.
The problem lies in the storytelling. There’s a thing that happens in the first 30 minutes that is truly SHOCKING to witness in a documentary. I gasped. Whatever documentary Chin and Vasarhelyi thought they were making has two paths forward: the one they wanted to initially make, or the one that’s bolder, but I believe to be more emotionally rewarding. They go the “safe” route and stay the course, but kind of dip their toes into the 2nd story to remind people what should have happened with the doc. These “safe” choices left a really bitter taste in my mouth, as all this talk of feats and personal accomplishment means a narrow, narcissistic view of what is happening here, undercutting any joy or happiness we are supposed to feel from the Everest ski attempt. So even though I rode some highs from what I saw as Everest: The Other Side went on, those highs were mitigated but an emptier, and frankly more antagonistic feeling for what I was watching.
I don’t even want to say good job. I guess I’ll say the filmmakers really made Everest a great viewing experience I’m glad I got to have. And, without spoiling, I want to give a hug to some of the participants in this movie that I will probably think about longer and harder than the doc’s subjects. Now let me enjoy my hot cocoa in at my base camp without worrying about breaking my leg in Steamboat Springs.