Netflix takes to the skies with La Fiera (To the Max). BASE jumping, wingsuits, massive cliffs and people voluntarily throwing themselves off mountains. All the ingredients for nearly two hours of nail-biting entertainment are there. I expected to need a moment to recover afterwards. Unfortunately, I found the 1-hour, 53-minute runtime to be the biggest endurance test.
La Fiera is directed by Salvador Calvo and inspired by true events surrounding Spanish pioneers of BASE jumping and wingsuit flying. Carlos Cuevas plays Carlos Suárez, who discovers a brand-new adrenaline fix after leaving climbing behind. He befriends Darío and Armando, played by Miguel Ángel Silvestre and Miguel Bernardeau. Together, they keep pushing themselves towards increasingly extreme challenges. On paper, that sounds spectacular. On screen, I never felt it quite took off.
For a movie about people hurtling past rock faces at ridiculous speeds, La Fiera moves remarkably slowly. The trailer sold danger, tension and adrenaline. The movie itself delivered a surprising amount of melodrama and lengthy conversations. It does not help that I found the characters difficult to connect with. The film spends plenty of time establishing their friendship, yet I never really became invested in them. I found the acting equally uneven. Some emotional moments worked reasonably well, while others felt so forced they were almost painful to watch.
My biggest problem was the characters’ decision-making. Sure, these are extreme sports enthusiasts. A healthy appetite for danger comes with the territory. At some point, however, that appetite becomes so enormous that common sense appears to have fallen straight off the mountain. Even when things repeatedly go horribly wrong, with tragic consequences, the remaining daredevils seem remarkably eager to carry on. I kept wondering why nobody stopped to say: maybe we should just go bowling this weekend.
That is exactly why the emotional side of La Fiera struggled to land. The movie wanted me to sympathize with men who risk everything for their next adrenaline rush while their families and loved ones wait at home. It tried to make their obsession understandable, but never quite succeeded. Without that sympathy, what should have been a tearjerker quickly turned into an emotional damp squib for me.
Picture Credit: Netflix
Director Salvador Calvo also opts for an unusual storytelling device. Fictional interviews are scattered throughout the story, making La Fiera occasionally feel like a documentary with a drama awkwardly squeezed in between, or vice versa. I found it an interesting idea in theory. In practice, it mostly killed the momentum. Not exactly ideal for a movie that is supposed to be all about speed and adrenaline. As a result, I increasingly felt the weight of the runtime.
Visually, To the Max surprises with how restrained it is. I expected a movie about BASE jumping and wingsuit flying to give me a fear of heights from the safety of my sofa. Towering mountains, stomach-churning drops and flights that make you forget to breathe should be the bare minimum. There are a few impressive moments, but nowhere near enough of them. It feels like a major missed opportunity. Some truly spectacular cinematography could have given this Netflix movie the shot of adrenaline it desperately needed.
La Fiera (To the Max) has a fascinating true story at its core, but it fails to turn it into a gripping movie. The documentary-style approach slowed everything down, the drama lacked impact and the characters were difficult to sympathise with. Even the spectacle left me wanting more. If you live and breathe BASE jumping, skydiving or extreme sports, I can imagine there is still enough here to keep you entertained. But if, like me, you prefer keeping both feet firmly on the ground, you can safely skip this particular jump.
