Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Broad Peak’ on Netflix, A Mountain Climbing Movie Not Worth Summiting

Netflix’s Broad Peak is a film about men and the mountains, literal and metaphorical, they cannot rest until they have climbed. This true-life story uses lush cinematography to recount the exploits of the first adventurer to climb to the highest point of the titular mountain in winter – or so he thinks. It’s a tale of determination that gradually crosses over into obsession at the expense of one’s family and self.

BROAD PEAK: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Director Leszek Dawid locks the audience into the perspective of mountaineer Maciej Berbeka (Ireneusz Czop), a Polish man dead-set on reaching the top of Broad Peak – which no one has done in the dead of winter, as he tries. While his first run at the world’s twelfth-highest mountain in the 1980s appears successful, later revelations cast doubt on his accomplishment. In spite of the objections of his wife Ewa (Maja Ostaszewska), he simply cannot remain content in quiet civilian life knowing that this summit remains unconquered. This gnawing sense of failure prompts Maciej to make another attempt in the 2010s, a quarter-century to the day after his first attempt.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The troubled ascent of a snowy mountain most immediately recalls 2015’s Everest, a film that spun an adventure story out of a troubled ascent of the Himalayan mountain that required an international rescue operation. The attempt to understand the psychology of someone inexorably pulled toward dangerous craggy climbs occasionally gives flashes of the thrilling 2018 documentary Free Solo about free-climber Alex Honnold.

Performance Worth Watching: Her performance is the epitome of what cultural commentator Louis Virtel calls “TOWASC” (an acronym for “There’s One Woman And She’s Concerned”), but Maja Ostaszewska as Maciej’s long-suffering wife is the closest thing Broad Peak has to an emotional core. As the mountain climbing scenes focus so heavily on the physical feat, she’s the grounding force in cutaways and in the film’s transitory passage between climbs.

Memorable Dialogue: “Broad Peak will remain in me forever,” says Maciej in the film’s establishing scene, “and I in it.” No spoilers, but let’s just say there’s more than a little poetic irony in his estimation of the mountain. One might say it’s a motto he takes a little too literally…

Sex and Skin: There’s a brief sex scene with some rear nudity upon Maciej’s return from the mountain in 1988 as he reconnects with his wife. Nothing too steamy, but enough to get Broad Peak slapped with a TV-MA on Netflix.

Our Take: Broad Peak is ultimately too obsessed with what Maciej does that it forgets to convey who he is. While the vast vistas of the mountain inspire awe, the sight of the mountaineer’s face conjures nothing because Dawid and screenwriter Lukasz Ludkowski do nothing to establish his character and why a viewer should care about him. And while he’s buried underneath a giant visor and frozen beard on the mountain, Czop can bring little as an actor to emote his feelings on the mountain. Without any sort of empathetic investment in the man, he’s just a placeholder climbing Broad Peak and a black hole of charisma.

Our Call: SKIP IT. If you seek the thrills of man vs. nature, you’re better off with a glossy documentary from National Geographic or Discovery. Heck, even a SportsCenter clip package does a better job soliciting identification with a competitor than Broad Peak does. The film has all the signifiers of an adrenaline-pumping action epic but none of the substance necessary to get the heart rate rising.

Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, Little White Lies and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.