Plot: The story of how free climber Tommy Caldwell and climbing partner Kevin Jorgenson attempt to scale the unconquered 'Dawn Wall' route on vertical rock formation El Capitan.

When I heard that this was being shown at the Leeds Film Festival, I thought this was a new title for film documentary Free Solo. It turned to be another story about the famous American rock formation El Capitan.


So while I've been hearing great buzz by Free Solo, this was the first I had heard of The Dawn Wall. So I went into this still optimistic despite preferring wanting to see Free Solo.


I was so happy to be thinking non-stop about this particular film documentary afterwards. The non-linear story structure opened the film well and gave us an intriguing insight into the story from two particular chapters.
After that, it is great mix of character background as well as the climb itself.


Then once the backstory was sorted, it was all about the task our characters were taking on. The content shown was expertly shot and some of the sequences felt so nerve-wracking that a fictionalised version of this story would look inferior in its execution.


What I think made this story work on screen was showing the immense skill and passion our central cast had.
Once we understood that, it just elevated the tense climbing scenes as we felt their drive and determination, and pulled for them when their climb was at its trickiest.


This was an absolute thrill-ride that was shown in the best possible way.


The people involved were given thorough backstories and made them easy to get invested. Also, the camerawork really made you appreciate the task at hand and we got some amazing shots that made the viewing experience a tense and gripping one.


It will be interesting to see how Free Solo goes in over a month's time. Now that I've seen The Dawn Wall, it will be a tough to ask to topple this from a story-building and film-making point of view.


Rating: 8/10