Chris Evans' Red Sea Diving Resort on Netflix is based on a daring true story – but should you watch it?
Decades after the true story of Operation Brothers actually took place, Hollywood has taken on the story of the audacious Mossad mission to rescue thousands of Ethiopian Jews through Sudan – via a fake hotel village.
Yes, it's as wild as the movie makes it seem. Written and directed by Gideon Raff (Homeland) Netflix's The Red Sea Diving Resort stars Chris Evans (with beard), Michael K Williams, Ben Kingsley, Michiel Huisman, Greg Kinnear and more.
We're sorry to report that despite the infinite well of heartbreak, daring, courage, nuance and timely political commentary that exists in the true story of Operation Brothers, Raff and The Red Sea Diving Resort wholly miss the mark.
Chris Evans plays Ari, an Israeli-Mossad Captain America type (based on Mossad agent Daniel Limor). Ari is a man with uncompromising morals who refuses to leave anyone behind, even at his own risk and the dissolution of his family. Everyone else is a sidenote to Ari's heroism.
Even Kebede Bimro (based on the real-life Ferede Aklum), the local Ethiopian Jew who co-led the exodus, is only given one role to play.
Michael K Williams brings everything he has to Kedebe, but poor writing and a lack of screentime let him down. He is also one of only a few named Ethiopian characters.
The others are either baddies (Chris Chalk as Colonel Abdel Ahmed) or cogs in the dictatorship machine (Thabo Bopape as Colonel Madibbo). Colonel Ahmed is so villainous it becomes comical (and not in a satirical way), deflating the very real peril of the thousands of Ethiopian Jews who lived in constant threat of death.
The flippant behaviour of Madibbo, who only cares about money and power, is believable and haunting – more so than Ahmed's super-villain metaphorical-moustache twirling.
The refugees, to whom this story belongs, are reduced to huddled masses: voiceless, nameless faces representing the very real people who risked their lives to survive. They get one or two lines to remind Ari, and us, of THE STAKES before returning to being furniture for Ari's valour.
At the heart of the story are the Ethiopians and Mossad agents who worked together to escape persecution. But in The Red Sea Diving Resort we are spoon-fed white-saviour medicine with heaps of sugar to help it go down.
It is a modern-day Moses-in-the-desert story that has been machined into something palatable to Jason Bourne fans, with classic 'computer spy font', fancy square screen wipes and cheesy action-movie one-liners.
The story of the Red Sea Diving Resort didn't need those tactics, nor hamfisted, overly explanatory and preachy dialogue, to tell its tale. But that's what it has, which does a disservice to the very real people who lived and died this story.
The Red Sea Diving Resort is now available to stream on Netflix.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Instagram and Twitter account.
You Might Also Like
