Touching the Void poster
Review

Touching the Void 2003

Directed by Kevin Macdonald · 106 mins · 1,913 views

3.8 Letterboxd 3.90(20,933)
Ratings M L R A R L C A G M

Synopsis

The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

Trailers

Reviews (44)

  1. M
    MrPPeeps 8 月 22, 2026

    There may be nothing in this world that I want to do less than climb a F’N mountain! And films/documentaries like this only solidify that. Gripping watch though and the best use of Boney M ever. #51 Entry in the | 52 Week Challenge 2025 | My Last Review: | Clockers |

    104 1
  2. L
    Liv 8 月 22, 2026

    Richard, stop smiling.

    362 3
  3. R
    Ren 8 月 22, 2026

    Richard really had it out for Joe like damn

    176
  4. A
    Alex 8 月 22, 2026

    You know what void this touched? *points to heart* this one

    108
  5. R
    rose 8 月 22, 2026

    imagine having a will to live, couldn’t be me

    94
  6. L
    Lainey 8 月 22, 2026

    why cant men just go on a normal hike and be satisfied?

    95
  7. C
    Cameron Bertram 8 月 22, 2026

    There is something to be said about a story where you swear everybody is going to die at every single moment despite it being narrated by the people involved.

    118
  8. A
    Alyx 8 月 22, 2026

    being British at the top of a remote 20,000 foot mountain in the middle of a blizzard in -80 wind chill with no water or propane and a broken leg in shock from the trauma: “things got a bit out of control, really”

    102
  9. G
    Goofermo Del Toro 8 月 22, 2026

    Men are dumb dumb stupid silly stinky boys and I hate them for their dumb dumb stupid silly stinky decisions

    142 7
  10. M
    Maja Azhdaja 8 月 22, 2026

    “Bloody hell i’m gonna die to Boney M.”

    141
  11. C
    Caroline 8 月 22, 2026

    Simon: 🥶 🥾 Joe: 🤕🦵 Richard: 😄 ✌️

    123 1
  12. R
    Richard 8 月 22, 2026

    The best/funniest use of a Boney M song in a film, ever.

    435 4
  13. A
    Abi Lendrum 8 月 15, 2026

    miss you miss cowley

  14. K
    kaylaann244 8 月 14, 2026

    This is really good movie, even on the rewatch

  15. J
    JhonDoe_ 8 月 14, 2026

    Personnellement j’aurais kiffé pouvoir écouter bye bye de squeezie dans mes derniers instants

  16. T
    travis 8 月 14, 2026

    Bloody hell

  17. J
    Jack Stewart 8 月 14, 2026

    I don’t know about you but I love me a climbing documentary this one is a classic

  18. C
    Ceri 8 月 14, 2026

    PLEASE put away those pearly whites Richard. Rlly good

  19. L
    laragreiff 8 月 14, 2026

    one of the best documentaries i’ve ever seen. watch if you want your day to day troubles feel like miniscule obstacles

  20. Y
    ysedelt 8 月 13, 2026

    le fait que ce soit une histoire VRAIE ptn

  21. G
    Guilherme Veigas 8 月 13, 2026

    Imagine dying to the sound of “brown girl in the ring”

  22. S
    s4m7 8 月 12, 2026

    la montagne m’appelle (ils sont terriblement anglais)

  23. O
    ollierch 8 月 12, 2026

    Horrifying and unbelievable that this was a true story. Camera work was really realistic

    2
  24. C
    califhuman 8 月 11, 2026

    Insane reconstruction insane story

  25. M
    max_hunt 8 月 11, 2026

    Fkin UNBELIEVABLE story even for the third time. Was he wrong for cutting the rope??

  26. ‮

    זה קצת הורס לי שהמרואיינים היו גם שחקנים אבל הסיפור מטורף אין ספק

  27. L
    Lauren 8 月 9, 2026

    Richard needs to stop smiling and men need to stop climbing things

  28. R
    RE06GM 8 月 7, 2026

    An absolutely optional hobby might I add. The body horror of doing all this with a broken leg? Madness. + everything

  29. J
    Jacob Bradley 8 月 7, 2026

    and you continued to climb? dawg how dumb are you, you were dumb enough to do it in the first place and after that traumatic experience you keep climbing? also I don’t love how this documentary shows the people being alive so early on, we know they survive and now we just have to watch them suffer and for what? some pretty shots but really just a 2000s docu-drama

    2
  30. O
    olivejackman 8 月 7, 2026

    not richard picking favorites

    1
  31. S
    SEB_9000 8 月 7, 2026

    Extraordinary story! Incredibly compelling documentary, with very impressive reenactment footage supplementing the talking heads. It’s some of the best reenactment I’ve ever seen, it’s shot like a film, and looks better than most films in fact, making it feel like real footage of the disaster. Totally enthralling throughout. Also I love how British they are about it all 😅

    1
  32. K
    Katy 8 月 5, 2026

    My mother really just knows everyone, hears the story and goes, oh yeah I met that guy

    1
  33. E
    Eben_W 8 月 5, 2026

    My leg practically fell into itself after watching this!

  34. T
    Tomas Tomas 8 月 4, 2026

    Lo que uno quiere cuando piensa en alpinismo (por favor no)

  35. E
    ethan mick 8 月 4, 2026

    this smug mf richard sitting in camp picking favorites while they’re up there almost dying, lmao

  36. G
    Grace ✨ 8 月 4, 2026

    I blame Richard that cheery little bastard

  37. M
    Matthew 8 月 2, 2026

    Never seen two best friends who hate each other so much

    8 4
  38. M
    ManFromLisbon 8 月 2, 2026

    Watched it on Kanopy.

  39. P
    pomidorchik 8 月 2, 2026

    “Они готовы принять этот риск, согласиться на опасность с открытыми глазами. Возможно, альпинисты – самоуверенные, высокомерные и верят, что горы их пощадят… но тут речь идет о чем-то большем, чем просто о риске. В альпинизме высшего уровня люди борются не понятно за что. Что они получают? Их не ждет слава, это не приносит денег, за это не дают медали. А они готовы поставить на кон свою жизнь. И это, я всегда считал, свидетельствует об уникальности альпинизма. И я по-прежнему так…

    2
  40. S
    Steve Bageler 7 月 31, 2026

    Crazy, fuck me. I am not going alpine climbing any time soon. What a good friend for not giving up and leaving that guy until he had to. But yeah, I’d die so fast. Like, at base camp.

  41. S
    smking620 7 月 8, 2026

    Loved the decision to tell this with dramatic reenactments overlaying the first-person accounts and appreciated the efforts to dig a little deeper beneath the incredible survivalism to explore the psychology of such harrowing events.

  42. 8
    8eardie 3 月 22, 2026

    Holy dad lore

  43. D
    driftovy 2 月 15, 2025

    I felt something in the end

  44. R
    Roger Ebert Archives 2 月 6, 2004

    For someone who fervently believes he will never climb a mountain, I spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about mountain-climbing. In my dreams my rope has come lose and I am falling, falling, and all the way down I am screaming: “Stupid! You’re so stupid! You climbed all the way up there just so you could fall back down!” Now there is a movie more frightening than my nightmares. “Touching the Void” is the most harrowing movie about mountain…

Write a Review

My rating

B Brendan Mackey Joe Simpson
N Nicholas Aaron Simon Yates
O Ollie Ryall Richard Hawking
J Joe Simpson Himself
R Richard Hawking Himself
S Simon Yates Himself
Director Kevin Macdonald
Producer John Smithson
Executive Producer Charles Furneaux, Paul Trijbits, Robin Gutch
Editor Justine Wright
Original Music Alex Heffes
Casting Susie Figgis
Synopsis
The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
Director
Kevin Macdonald
Studio
UK Film Council, DSP, Film4 Productions
Country
UK
Language
English
Year
2003
Runtime
106 mins

View all genres »

  • USA05 Sep 2003
  • UK12 Dec 2003
  • Ireland30 Jan 2004
  • France11 Feb 2004
  • Netherlands06 May 2004
  • Portugal20 May 2004
  • Belgium16 Jun 2004
  • Spain30 Jul 2004
  • Greece11 Feb 2005
  • South Korea24 Sep 2020
  • France23 Sep 2004
  • UK06 Apr 2020
  • Netherlands15 Apr 2008