Free Solo is a documentary that centres on Alex Honold, the world's most elite practitioner of free solo climbing, in which the climber ascends high rock walls without a rope. We follow him over the course of a couple years as he prepares for an outlandish goal: climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park free solo.
We get to know Alex and understand what makes him tick. We learn that the fear centre of his brain is not activated by the usual stimuli, allowing him to focus on difficult climbing in a situation where the slightest error would quickly cost him his life. We see him in a relationship with a girlfriend where he seems unable to understand that his death would really matter much to her or his friends and family. And that's what it takes to be able to undertake such an insane challenge: a near-complete lack of fear and human attachment.
Honold is an incredible climber; his ability to endure long, hard stretches of climbing and keep his focus is unmatched. he is also one of the very few climbers who do free solo climbs who has not yet died doing that; it is not a forgiving activity. I think one must be pretty much insane to do what he does. I have grave concerns that films like this will encourage others to go free soloing without Honold's skill or mental suitability to the task, and without his extensive preparations that do substantially reduce the risk involved. Those concerns aside, this is a very good film that provides a really good look into who Honold is and how he is able to do what he does.
TIFF 2018 Overview
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