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Parents' Guide to

The Red Sea Diving Resort

By Renee Schonfeld, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Great true story becomes uninspired film; violence, language

Movie NR 2019 129 minutes
The Red Sea Diving Resort Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 14+

Based on 1 parent review

CrewDad6
CrewDad6 Adult
August 6, 2019
age 14+

Red Sea Diving Resort

This movie serves up a nice, hearty dish of compassion with a side of sacrifice. Despite pretty much all critics complaining of this film having a "white savior" complex, it's actually a good story and, while at times it seems they wrote some of the scenes and plot-points based on Chris Evans's heroic-ness, you still get the feel that the people involved are in this for the right reasons, which is to smuggle Ethiopian Jews out of a very hostile homeland to safety in Israel. And to address the Chris Evans side-effect, we as viewers just have to disassociate this from a Marvel movie. I know, it's really hard to do that when a person plays a loved character. It's hard for me to watch anything with Steve Carrell without thinking of Michael Scott, but if you can view this as a stand-alone film without thinking of Captain America, you will enjoy it! I rated this at 14 Years+ because of the language and violence. Many F-Bombs, and some that they could have done without, but one thing I like to think about when viewing movies with heavy language is "in real life, in this scenario, would that person, or a person, have said the F word"? This can be relative, but being in the workplace and the real world, I can say in most cases, the answer is yes, they likely would have. Also several uses of most of the other curse words. There is a scene with Chris Evans completely nude getting out of bed, but you only see his rear. Another scene where Chris Evans is recruiting someone on a tropical location and you see topless girls from the side. In that same scene, a male character walks outside from a room and you see his rear several times, but convenient camera angles obscure seeing anything else. One of the Captains of the Sudanese Army discusses details of sexual nature (basically being particularly rough with certain women) about a woman present, in an attempt to antagonize the good guys. The violence is mild in most cases. There is a scene where multiple Ethiopians are executed in an attempt to get information, and this is about as graphic the violence gets, other than some gunfire and the overall nature of "we need to get out of here or we are dead" gist of the film.
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What's the Story?

Ari Levinson (Chris Evans) is a heroic Israeli intelligence officer in THE RED SEA DIVING RESORT. After leading a desperate group of Jewish Ethiopians across the border into The Sudan and hiding them in a refugee center, Ari and his teammates, including Sammy (Alessandro Nivola), are ordered back to Mossad headquarters where Ethan (Ben Kingsley) is the boss. There, still concerned about the plight of those he rescued and their leader Kabeda (Michael Kenneth Williams), Ari comes up with an orthodox plan to get them to their final destination...Jerusalem. Using an abandoned, beachside hotel -- The Red Sea Diving Resort -- as a base, the Ethiopians can be smuggled out of Sudan by boat to Israel. Convincing his superiors that he can make it work, and recruiting a team of trusted allies, including Sammy, Rachel (Haley Bennett), Jake (Michael Huisman), and Max (Alex Hassell), Ari sets the plan in motion. The sham resort is up and "running" when the crew makes its first successful nighttime rescue. Then another, and another, until the entire operation is threatened by Sudanese Colonel Abdul Ahmed (Chris Chalk), whose relentless efforts to stop them have dire results.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (2 ):

A widely-known true story spills the beans on the outcome, but unfortunately this well-intentioned movie as a whole is also predictable. From the opening sequence when a little boy gets separated from his family and "Captain America" is on the scene, is there any doubt? The winning concept of a decrepit resort being resurrected as a stopover spot for the daring rescue of scores of despairing refugees is the best thing about the film. When German tourists mistake the undercover operation for the real thing, The Red Sea Diving Resort has moments of originality and wit. Otherwise, not so much.

Forced conflict between heroes is just that, forced. A cowboy Mossad operative feels like every cowboy cop when there's no depth to the character (a lame effort at giving Ari an estranged family is even cornier that it should have been). And the movie can't escape from the fact that it's another in what is sometimes called a "white savior" view of historical events. Little effort, if any, is made to bring an emotional heart to the despairing but hopeful people at the story's center. Coming in at over two hours, it feels even longer than that. The movie isn't a total dud, because it gives at least some exposure to what was surely a operation of tremendous import when it occurred, and has more than a little resonance given the immigrant crises still in play decades later.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in The Red Sea Diving Resort. Battle sequences in war movies are expected. Do you think those expectations prepare audiences for that violence? Lessen the impact? Why is it important for families to be aware of the impact of violence, even wartime action, on kids?

  • Find out the difference between movies that are labeled "a true story," "inspired by a true story" or "based on a true story." Does it matter? Why?

  • A movie's setting and/or location can be considered a character in the film. How is the desert setting in The Red Sea Diving Resort a crucial element in the story? In what ways might it be thought of as a character?

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