It started out as a sympathetic story, and of course, it is a family tragedy. As we watched, my husband and I were wowed by the spectacular houses the family lived in as much as the Everest climb. What do these people DO for a living? We wondered how they carved out the time to plan and make the trip. Do they work?
The real story came out well into the movie, when they shared that their 22-year-old son climbed Mt Everest wearing a Rolex watch. And the real story is the tone-deafness of the family and filmers. The movie is silent on the subject of the family affluence set against the poverty of the Sherpas. It's no sin to be rich but own the privilege! Talk about the cost of the expedition, the Sherpa's compensation, the risks they took -- make the story about the Sherpas as much as the other characters -- they are the real heroes here.
The "well, as long as we're up here" return of the Sherpa body was distasteful. Filming weeping children. Honestly.