the red sea diving resort movie review

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Hollywood has a long history of turning heroic true stories into cinematic thrillers. The best of them take harrowing stories of danger and make them resonant to audiences sitting comfortably in theaters or, increasingly, on their couches. They take us there through time and geography, and often ask us what we would do in the same situation, whether we would rise to the occasion and be heroes ourselves. And the really great ones offer something that a non-fiction book cannot, grounding true stories in high drama with three-dimensional characters who feel real. They remind us of the humanity embedded in heroism. Gideon Raff ’s “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” unceremoniously dumped on Netflix today, does none of these things. It turns real heroes into generic tropes and real victims into manipulative props. Great hero stories leave the viewer feeling inspired by the potential within the human condition. This one will just leave you depressed.

“The Red Sea Diving Resort” tells the true story of a group of Mossad agents in the early ‘80s who rescued hundreds of Jewish-Ethiopian refugees though Sudan and then back to Israel. The tone of the film is set by its opening scene, in which we watch Ethiopians fleeing gun-toting villains to nearby trucks. Of course, a child is missing. He must be in the field playing airplane. The only person who can save him is the heroic Ari Levinson ( Chris Evans ), who gets to the boy seconds before automatic gunfire nearly tears him apart. Child in jeopardy, check. White savior, check. Near-tragedy turned into action scene, check.

Ari and his team are captured, and forced to return to Israel, but our hero can’t sleep knowing that there are Jewish-Ethiopians who need his help, including friend Kebede Bimro (a miserably wasted Michael K. Williams , who disappears for half the movie and is given nothing to work with beyond his dedication when he returns). And so he devises a plan. The Israeli government will purchase an abandoned fishing resort on the coast of the Sudan – the one that gives the film its title – and his team will use it to free those still stuck in Ethiopia. The team includes the always-reticent Sammy Navon ( Alessandro Nivola ), tough Rachel Reiter ( Haley Bennett ), Jake Wolf ( Michiel Huisman ), and Max Rose ( Alex Hassell ). Greg Kinnear and Ben Kingsley show up as suits who can’t believe how daring and reckless Ari is behaving – at one point, he is literally described out loud as “reckless and out of control.” The team actually ends up running the resort as a business after they realize it makes for a better cover if it looks like they have a reason to be there.

That last detail, while possibly historically accurate, leads to one of the most jarring tonal shifts in any film in years. After they decide to keep the resort open, Raff stages a wacky hotel business montage set to Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf,” complete with ‘80s-style editing and Nivola noodling the song on an acoustic guitar. He follows that up immediately with a scene of the film’s villain, Col. Abdel Ahmed ( Chris Chalk , who actually gives the best performance, exuding some serious menace), interrogating refugees about how their numbers are dwindling by shooting several of them in the head, execution-style. To say it’s abrupt, would be kind. It’s truly jaw-dropping.

At least that drastic tonal jump is worth remembering, as awful as it is, because most of “Red Sea Diving Resort” is just dispiritingly forgettable. It’s the kind of script that underlines and highlights every character trait and motivation – the dialogue about leaving no one behind would sound hackneyed and forced on a TV movie in the ‘80s much less in what should be a theatrical one 40 years later. These characters are always either talking about how dangerous the mission is, how important the mission is, or the incredible things they accomplished during the mission. These are heroes , and don’t you forget it. But they’re never real people.

Of course, no one would dare to suggest that what the Mossad agents who actually saved lives through the Red Sea Diving Resort accomplished wasn’t more heroic than anything I’ll do in my life, but that fact doesn’t make the movie about them work. It feels like everyone involved in “The Red Sea Diving Resort” presumed the tale itself was so moving that they didn’t need to do much to make it into an inspirational movie. It’s a story that most viewers won’t know before they watch the film. And won’t really feel like they know after, either.   

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019)

129 minutes

Chris Evans as Ari Levinson

Haley Bennett as Rachel Reiter

Ben Kingsley as Ethan Levin

Michiel Huisman as Jacob 'Jake' Wolf

Alessandro Nivola as Sammy Navon

Michael Kenneth Williams as Kabede Bimro

Greg Kinnear as Walton Bowen

Alona Tal as Sarah Levinson

Chris Chalk as Col. Abdel Ahmed

Mark Ivanir as Barack Isaacs

Alex Hassell as Max Rose

• Gideon Raff

Cinematographer

• Robert Schaefer
• Tim Squyres
• Mychael Danna

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‘the red sea diving resort’: film review.

Chris Evans plays an Israeli Mossad agent who devises a scheme to use an abandoned seaside resort as a cover while smuggling Jewish Ethiopian refugees to Israel in Gideon Raff's Netflix thriller 'The Red Sea Diving Resort.'

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

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You sometimes have to wonder if spy agencies don’t design operations with film deals in mind. That surely must have been the case with the Israeli Mossad’s daring scheme to smuggle Ethiopian Jews out of a Sudanese refugee camp, which serves as the inspiration for Gideon Raff’s Netflix feature. If the events depicted in The Red Sea Diving Resort hadn’t actually (sort of) happened, the pic would be dismissed as sheer fantasy.

Not that the plot elements in the 1980-set film aren’t fantastical. Chris Evans transitions from playing Captain America to a Mossad agent for the starring role, a piece of casting which on the surface seems unlikely given his all-American looks but actually works in the story’s context. As the story begins, his character, Ari Levinson (a composite, as are most of the others shown), is working with a rebel leader, Kabede (Michael K. Williams, The Wire ), to smuggle oppressed Ethiopian Jews out of the country, although the farthest they’re able to get them is a Sudanese camp.

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Release date: Jul 31, 2019

Ari comes up with an unlikely idea involving the Mossad surreptitiously leasing an abandoned seaside hotel and using it as a base camp for nighttime missions raiding the camp and escorting the Ethiopians to the shore where they can be picked up by waiting Israeli ships. He presents the idea to his supervisor (Ben Kingsley, one of the few actors on the planet fully capable of being fully convincing as either a notorious Nazi or an Israel intelligence officer), who not surprisingly reacts with skepticism. Even more dubious is the spy agency’s chief (Mark Ivanir), whose main role in the story seems to be fulminating in blustery fashion, both before and after he okays the risky operation.

Cue the inevitable “assembling the team” sequence, presented here in such lighthearted fashion that you begin wondering whether the mission involves rescuing desperate refugees or robbing a Las Vegas casino. The recruits are an internationally diverse lot, including flight attendant Rachel (Haley Bennett, The Girl on the Train ), whose mastery of hand-to-combat is demonstrated when she takes down a lecherous co-worker; medical doctor Sammy (Alessandro Nivola, The Art of Self-Defense ), who chafes at Ari’s impulsive risk-taking); diving expert Jake (Michiel Huisman, Game of Thrones ), a ladies man who rocks a banana hammock; and sharpshooter Max (Alex Hassell, currently seen as Translucent on Amazon’s The Boys ).

Each member of the team is assigned a new identity, with one designated as being Maltese, because, as Ari explains, “No one knows what language people in Malta speak.”

When a group of German tourists accidentally arrive at the resort and expect to be checked in, the team is forced to improvise. But Ari quickly realizes that they’ve stumbled on the perfect cover, using the actual guests to disguise the team’s risky activities. Director-screenwriter Raff (no stranger to the thematic terrain, being the creator of Prisoners of War , the Israel series later adapted into Showtime’s Homeland ) takes advantage of the situation’s absurdity by delivering a cheeky montage, accompanied by Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf,” contrasting the agents’ cheesy resort hosting duties with their nighttime espionage.

The frequent shifting in tone isn’t always to the film’s advantage. The comic moments often mesh uneasily with the more conventional suspenseful passages, many involving the frequent visits to the resort by a suspicious Sudanese colonel (a genuinely menacing Chris Chalk, Gotham ) who knows that something fishy is going on but can’t prove it.

But the movie, which will inevitably spur comparisons to such similar efforts as Argo , works well enough on its own terms, with Mychael Danna’s synthesizer-heavy score providing a suitably retro vibe. It would have certainly proved beneficial if rebel leader Kabede had received greater emphasis; although the Ethiopian character introduces the story via a voiceover, he remains sadly underutilized throughout. The pacing, too, is problematic, with too many talky digressive scenes (some involving a cynical CIA agent, well played by Greg Kinnear) sapping the overlong film of narrative momentum.

Evans plays hunky and sincere as effectively here as he does in the MCU, showing off his chiseled physique in many shirtless scenes. But he’s upstaged by several of the supporting players whose characters are more colorful, especially Huisman as the equally ripped Jake and Bennett as the agent equally versed in martial arts and aerobics instruction.

As if to forestall any viewer skepticism, the end credits feature footage of the real-life figures involved in the outlandish events. It was somehow comforting to see that the banana-hammock bathing suit wasn’t a cinematic invention.

Production companies: Bron Studios, EMAJ, G. Raff, in association with Creative Wealth Media Distributor: Netflix Cast: Chris Evans, Haley Bennett, Alessandro Nivola, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michiel Huisman, Alex Hassell, Mark Ivanir, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley Director-screenwriter: Gideon Raff Producers: Alexandra Milchan, Gideon Raff, Aaron L. Gilbert Executive producers: Jason Cloth, David Gendron, Ali Jazayeri, Alex Lebovici, Andrew Pollack, Steve Ponce, Steven Thibault, Philip Waley Director of photography: Roberto Schaefer Production designer: Jeff Mann Editor: Tim Squyres Composer: Mychael Danna Costume designers: Neil McClean, Ruth Myers

130 minutes

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The red sea diving resort, common sense media reviewers.

Great true story becomes uninspired film; violence, language

A Lot or a Little?

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

Values promoted: fighting for a righteous cause, l

Recognizes various kinds of courage: reckless, tho

War action: machine gun fire, snipers, multiple pe

Skimpy bathing suits, including topless, in one sc

Countless uses of "f--k," "s--t." Others: "a--hole

Occasional social drinking. Multiple characters sm

Parents need to know that The Red Sea Diving Resort is a wartime drama inspired by a true story. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ethiopian Jews in large numbers, marginalized in their country and with few resources, made a valiant effort to migrate to Israel, specifically Jerusalem. Harrowing journeys were…

Positive Messages

Values promoted: fighting for a righteous cause, loyalty, having empathy for those who cannot act for themselves, putting aside grievances and focusing on what's important.

Positive Role Models

Recognizes various kinds of courage: reckless, thoughtful, self-sacrificing, and responding to a higher purpose. Main character is reckless but resourceful, determined, and lucky. Lone female character is as brave and competent as her male allies. White folks rescue whole communities of black Ethiopian Jews.

Violence & Scariness

War action: machine gun fire, snipers, multiple people shot at close range, brutal hand-to-hand combat (one fight shows a woman holding her own), bloody bodies en masse. Suspenseful chases, narrow escapes, innocents under assault from villainous armed men.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Skimpy bathing suits, including topless, in one scene. Rear view of naked male.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Countless uses of "f--k," "s--t." Others: "a--hole," 'hell," "wild in the sack."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Occasional social drinking. Multiple characters smoke cigarettes.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Red Sea Diving Resort is a wartime drama inspired by a true story. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ethiopian Jews in large numbers, marginalized in their country and with few resources, made a valiant effort to migrate to Israel, specifically Jerusalem. Harrowing journeys were common. One notable and continuing rescue effort during this period was conducted by members of the Mossad, Israeli's intelligence service. This movie recounts that effort. Suspense and violence are core elements of the film: gunfire, including vicious, repeated point-blank killings; intense transport chases; narrow escapes; brutal hand-to-hand combat. There are multiple scenes in which fleeing refugees and their determined rescuers come under enemy fire. Frequent expletives are heard (i.e., "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "hell"). Skimpy bikinis (including topless) are seen briefly in one beach sequence; the backside of a naked man is shown. Characters drink alcohol in several scenes; lots of cigarette smoking, one cigar. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (1)
• Kids say (2)

Based on 1 parent review

Red Sea Diving Resort

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?

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?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : July 31, 2019
• Cast : Chris Evans , Alessandro Nivola , Haley Bennett
• Director : Gideon Raff
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Netflix
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Activism , Adventures , History
• Run time : 129 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : February 18, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The Red Sea Diving Resort Reviews

When it comes to planning your weekend, make sure this new Netflix film is your last resort.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 20, 2022

Raff saw an opportunity with this tale, took it, and didn't bother to do it justice. That's pretty much all there is to say.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Jun 8, 2020

Even though it's an action film, it errs on the side of having an academic style. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 12, 2019

Why make this rushed, sloppy and generic piece of Israeli triumphalism now? Who stands to gain?

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 4, 2019

If you want something to put on in the background while you clean, turn on Red Sea Diving Resort. The soundtrack will alert you to which scenes to watch.

Full Review | Sep 2, 2019

It's an unfortunate white savior flick, for whatever that implies.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Aug 17, 2019

The Red Sea Diving Resort is built around a narrative with massive potential, but the movie never quite delivers, reducing it to a film that is merely adequate.

Full Review | Original Score: 6.5/10 | Aug 16, 2019

In The Red Sea Diving Resort, a rescuer states, "We leave no one behind." That becomes the motto of the film.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 15, 2019

The Red Sea Diving Resort didn't need hamfisted, overly explanatory and preachy dialogue, to tell its tale. But that's what it has, which does a disservice to the very real people who lived and died this story.

Full Review | Aug 12, 2019

Because it is based on true facts the movie has a leg up. Chris Evans leads a good cast in telling a fascinating story.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Aug 10, 2019

The first act does work well but then the proposal is not satisfactorily developed. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 9, 2019

Sappy lines like, "We're all just refugees, aren't we?" jar against the clearly intended grave portents of today's ongoing global free-movement crisis.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 9, 2019

Chris Evans stars in Gideon Raff's oversimplified yet suspenseful action-thriller - and the end credits feature real-life footage of those involved in the rescue.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Aug 8, 2019

Great true story becomes uninspired film; violence, language

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 6, 2019

'Red Sea' undoubtedly has a Hollywood spit shine, with its modern musical score, heavy stylization and story conveniences. That said, the act of heroism and human sincerity at its center keep it sharp and worthwhile.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 5, 2019

Chooses star-vehicle bravura over the historical plight that really matters

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 5, 2019

The problem... is that it doesn't feel particularly interested in the political intricacies of the situation and it's definitely not interested in presenting the perspective of the Ethiopian refugees with any psychological subtlety.

Full Review | Aug 5, 2019

It's like if a Rambo movie decided to be about something meaningful.

A large part of the problem is the casting of Chris Evans as the leader of the Israeli spy ring that set up the hotel. He is most known for playing Captain America and seems not to have put aside his shield for this film.

Full Review | Original Score: 0.5/4 | Aug 5, 2019

Raff missed the opportunity to shake the narrative further by showing Kabede's daring rescue efforts from his perspective.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Aug 4, 2019

Film Review: ‘The Red Sea Diving Resort’

The astonishing story of a real-life rescue mission of Ethiopian Jews by Israeli Mossad agents, this liberally fictionalized Netflix thriller plays the “white savior complex” to shameful extremes.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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“There’s so much to see and do in Arous,” read the brochure for a Sudanese vacation spot where visitors could go scuba diving amid reefs “made famous by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Hans Hass.” Never mind that Sudan was in a state of civil war and no place for tourists in the early 1980s. European tourists came anyway, oblivious to the fact that the exotic getaway — rechristened “The Red Sea Diving Resort” for the Netflix film of the same name — was a front for a Mossad-run rescue mission: Israeli agents used Arous to smuggle Ethiopian Jews out of refugee camps to the coast, where offshore boats could ferry them to Jerusalem.

The true story of this operation is so wild you couldn’t make it up — the kind of recently declassified real-life operation that savvy producers could conceivably pitch as a cross between Ben Affleck’s “Argo” and Steven Spielberg’s “Munich.” The film, on the other hand, is a bust, reducing this liberally fictionalized real-life adventure to a series of petty squabbles among super-hot foreigners. American audiences typically adore “white savior movies,” but this one pushes the stereotype to such an extreme (picture Chris Evans and “Game of Thrones” hunk Michiel Huisman as ripped Jewish heroes, swooping in to save the day), it’s impossible to ignore how badly the film marginalizes the courageous Ethiopian refugees about whom it purports to care so deeply.

One can tell from the opening scene — in which Evans arrives at the last second to save a lost Ethiopian boy, moments before a vicious African warlord has the chance to shoot the unarmed child — what kind of movie “The Red Sea Diving Resort” will prove to be. Evans is playing Ari Levinson, an admirably reckless Secret Service agent who refuses to leave a single person behind. Ari is fully committed to Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin’s goal of repatriating (if that’s the word) the surviving members of Beta Israel, an isolated community of Ethiopian Jews whose history no one quite knows, but whose future was seriously endangered by persecution and famine at the time.

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In writer-director Gideon Raff ’s grossly oversimplified script, it is Ari who hatches the wild idea to lease an abandoned hotel along the shores of the Red Sea, where Ethiopian Jews who’d made the dangerous trek to Sudan could be smuggled out of the country. At the time, Sudan was actively hostile to the state of Israel (it was there, in 1967, that the Arab League resolved “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it”), so such a plan would have to be carried out by individuals with no obvious ties to the country. Hence a cast of the most goyish-looking actors you can imagine: Evans, Huisman, Haley Bennett (who plays a stewardess with a mean choke hold) and Alessandro Nivola (a field doctor whose primary function is to second-guess Ari’s semi-improvised plans).

Back in Israel, the team answers to Ben Kingsley, who could play this kind of skeptical taskmaster in his sleep, and Mossad boss Barack Isaacs (Mark Ivanir), who shouts a lot, clenching and unclenching his fist dramatically during extractions from a control center far removed from the action. Meanwhile, in Africa, the toughest work clearly falls to the local guides who led the perilous Jewish exodus from Ethiopia to the Gedaref Refugee Camp. Raff composites all these heroes into a single character, Kabede Bimro (played by Michael Kenneth Williams, Omar of “The Wire”), the film’s only nonwhite ally of note.

Told in heavy-handed, pseudo-Spielbergian strokes, the story here is clearly being presented through the lens of Israeli heroism, and there’s no diminishing the enormous risks the characters’ real-life counterparts took to rescue thousands of lives. But it doesn’t take much to recognize that the story is far more interesting when viewed from Kabede’s perspective: Here was a modern-day Moses leading a persecuted people to the Promised Land. And even though Ari claims he won’t leave anyone behind, it is Kabede who must repeatedly convince him to keep going when obstacles arrive. In the best-case version of this story, this part would warrant an Oscar-worthy performance, whereas Williams can’t make much of the one-dimensional role, playing him as yet another victim in need of saving.

But saving from what, exactly? On that count, the movie is distressingly unclear, inventing a menacing Sudanese army officer, Col. Abdel Ahmed (Chris Chalk), to personify the danger. Because the United Nations offers aid money for each refugee, the colonel is motivated to keep the Ethiopian Jews imprisoned at Gedaref, becoming increasingly agitated as hundreds disappear from the camp. Why, then, would he execute dozens of their kind, knowing it would cost him this incentive while almost surely attracting the scrutiny of the American ambassador (Greg Kinnear)?

Raff’s script proves so sketchy on the historical situation that audiences will be hard-pressed to summarize the strange dynamic the film depicts, focusing instead on the absurdities encountered along the way — like the scene where they bribe a local official while his boss can be heard executing his political enemies just off-screen. Considering how different the customs are in this part of the world, many films assume an almost satirical approach when confronting the lawlessness and corruption found there, evident in everything from Bryan Buckley’s irreverent “Pirates of Somalia” to Mads Brügger’s outrageous “The Ambassador.”

Bizarrely, Raff’s film never strikes a consistent tone, awkwardly switching styles — of acting, shooting and score — every few scenes. (For example, Bennett’s introduction, in which she subdues a fellow flight attendant who harasses her on the job, plays like a corny B-movie unto itself.) Even the scene transitions vary, as if editor Tim Squyres were determined to try every option Final Cut offers, from vertical blinds to horizontal wipes. But the real mystery is how the pair wound up with a 130-minute film that focuses primarily on a running disagreement between Evans’ and Nivola’s characters, while never adequately representing the political situation that necessitated such an elaborate operation. It’s as if somewhere along the way, they decided audiences don’t care nearly as much about the Ethiopian Jews as they do seeing their white saviors shirtless.

Reviewed at Netflix screening room, Los Angeles, July 25, 2019. Running time: 130 MIN.

• Production: A Netflix Films release and presentation of a Bron Studios, Emjay, G. Raff production, in association with Creative Entertainment. Producers: Alexandra Milchan, Gideon Raff, Aaron L. Gilbert.
• Crew: Director, writer: Gideo Raff. Camera (color, widescreen): Roberto Schaefer. Editor: Tim Squyres. Music: Mychael Danna.
• With: Chris Evans, Haley Bennett, Alessandro Nivola, Michael Kenneth Williams , Michiel Huisman, Alex Hassell, Mark Ivanir, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley. (English, Sudanese dialogue)

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The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019)

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'The Red Sea Diving Resort' Review: Netflix's Refugee Drama Is Well-Intentioned And Timely

When you see your brother or your sister struggling, you must not remain silent. Do not remain still. Go to their aid. Help them. Last week, we spent a little bit of time talking about the very real crisis that wreaked havoc on Ethiopia through the '70s and '80s. Specifically, we focused on the crisis of the Ethiopian Jews. We did so to discuss the subject matter of Netflix's most recent film, The Red Sea Diving Resort . Now that I've had a chance to check out the film, I figured it was only appropriate to talk about the film itself. One of the first things The Red Sea Diving Resort does is acknowledge that the crisis in Ethiopia wasn't solely faced by their Jewish population, and that the film will only be focusing on their story. It's an unnecessary but appreciated context. After the brief voice over acknowledgement from Kabede (Michael Kenneth Williams), the story primarily focuses on Ari Levinson (Chris Evans) and his team. Ari's a "screw the rules" upstart focused on saving the refugees whatever the cost, even if that cost is human life. His best friend, Sammy (Alessandro Nivola) plays his polar opposite. The two will come to blows over their differences before the final credits roll. They're joined by unexpected muscle, Rachel (Haley Bennett); the diving expert, Jake (Michiel Huisman); and hitman, Max (Alex Hassell).  There are a few warts, like some weird fadeouts and a couple of tertiary stories that make little sense, but The Red Sea Diving Resort has some worthwhile conversations woven into the plot. Ari and Sammy playing opposite extremes highlights an important debate between when it's time to throw out the rulebook and do whatever we can to save those in need, and when it's time to play it cautious lest we lose more people than we save. Jake's character, though mostly aloof throughout the majority of the heavy subject matter, has a line early on acknowledging that one of the worst genocides in history was occurring, but no one cared because it was happening in Africa. There's also an extremely relevant closing monologue from Kabede quoted at the start of this review. Despite the refugee's leader being given the opening and closing monologues, very little of the story is allowed to focus on him and his people. Kabede is the only one we know by name. Though part of that can be chalked up to the nature of the film, and the ever-revolving door of refugees they're smuggling out of the country, it would have been nice to have been allowed more of a connection with the people the team was saving. I would have been willing to sacrifice at least two Chris Evans workout moments for this!  That admittedly major complaint aside, I enjoyed the film. It showcases some difficult moments, highlighting just what these people are trying to flee from. A woman chooses to drown rather than be further abused or to see any more of her people slaughtered, and we're shown several terrifying displays of force from the monstrous government figures. Heather, the sole female of the primary team, is given more to do than simply standing around and looking pretty (low bar, but still something I actively watch for). And, while it sugars up some pretty grim history, it does so in the ways we expect from Hollywood rather than laying it on too thick. In the article discussing the aforementioned history, I mentioned that my biggest hope was that films like these would help raise awareness and empathy for the refugee crises happening around the globe. The Red Sea Diving Resort closes with Kabede's monologue and a note that there are over sixty-five million displaced refugees around the world. That's nearly double the population of Canada, all trying to flee humanitarian crises and often being met with apathy by both governments and the citizens of the countries they're trying to flee to. So, whether this film ends up being for you, or leaves you rolling your eyes, I hope you take time to look up how you can help refugees in your area. Do it for Kabede! 

Review: Chris Evans leads ‘Red Sea Diving Resort,’ a mission of mercy that plays like ‘Argo’-’Schindler’ lite

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Interesting and timely, “The Red Sea Diving Resort” highlights the plight of refugees and casts those helping them in a heroic light, but it doesn’t quite deliver dramatically.

The title might evoke a “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”-type genteel comedy, but this is a sometimes stark depiction of operatives led by an independent-thinking Mossad agent ( Chris Evans ) trying to smuggle Ethiopian Jewish refugees out of Africa. There are echoes of other films, as he persuades the Israeli government to fund an elaborate ruse for the (only recently declassified) real-life operation. Instead of a fake movie, as in “Argo,” it’s a fake hotel, which the highly trained spies find themselves having to staff when real tourists arrive. The shepherding of Jewish refugees calls to mind “Schindler’s List” or “Hotel Rwanda” (it’s set in Sudan), but, unfortunately, “Red Sea” doesn’t deliver the stress, suspense or emotional punch of any of those films.

The movie’s not bad; it’s just fine. The acting is good, particularly by Michael K. Williams as a heroic Ethiopian, Chris Chalk as a menacing colonel, and Alessandro Nivola as the team’s doctor and Evans’ character’s best friend. Nivola is simply good in every movie he’s in, no matter the material. Evans is a welcome presence.

However, “Red Sea” lacks tension. It’s rife with missed opportunities to make us worry about the safety of the spies and the refugees. Small things here and there — filmmaker decisions — make us question the film’s accuracy. Reliance on cliché sabotages the experience — Evans’ Ari Levinson is dedicated to his job, but damn it, why can’t he follow the rules? “This job pays in migraines,” complains his wise-but-caring boss (Ben Kingsley).

Nail-on-the-head images (Jewish refugees crossing the desert, anyone?) and dialogue don’t help. “We’re all just refugees, aren’t we?” says an agent played by Haley Bennett on the recitation of Levinson’s backstory. Filmmakers might want to avoid scripting the former Captain America to heroically declare, “We leave no one behind” for a while. A potentially rich vein for comedy — spies ad libbing as fake hotel employees — goes largely untapped. The result is a lack of personality to the film, written and directed by Gideon Raff, creator of the Israeli series on which Showtime’s “Homeland” is based.

“Red Sea” has genuine-seeming concern for the refugees it depicts, but doesn’t memorably capture the impressive true tale.

'The Red Sea Diving Resort'

Not rated Running time: 2 hours, 9 minutes Playing: Available July 31 on Netflix

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The red sea diving resort review: chris evans is a big damn hero, the red sea diving resort blends war drama with spy thriller levity, making for an at times uneven, but enjoyable movie in which chris evans shines..

Earlier this year, Netflix acquired  The Red Sea Diving Resort , a film about Israeli agents helping Jewish Ethiopian refugees flee from Ethiopia through Sudan to Israel. Because of the unique mission the movie recounts - in which the Israeli agents use a diving resort as a front to smuggle refugees out of Sudan - The Red Sea Diving Resort walks a thin line between light-hearted action-thriller and the more dramatic real world suffering of the Ethiopian refugees.  The Red Sea Diving Resort blends war drama with spy thriller levity, making for an at times uneven, but enjoyable movie in which Chris Evans shines.

Evans stars as Ari Levinson, a Mossad agent dedicated to getting all the Jewish Ethiopian refugees safely to Israel, even if it means taking big risks along the way. However, when he's arrested after escorting a group lead by Kebede Bimro (Michael K. Williams) to a refugee camp in Sudan, he's sent back to Israel to report to his boss, Ethan Levin (Ben Kingsley). While is Israel, he devises a new plan: Use an abandoned resort in Sudan as a front to smuggle refugees onto covert Israeli ships just off the coast. There are a few hiccups along the way, including actual guests arriving at their fake resort, and the scrutiny of local Colonel Abdel Ahmed (Chris Chalk), but they're more successful than anyone expected. As Sudan's own political climate grows unstable, though, continuing with the Red Sea Diving Resort becomes much riskier - but Ari remains committed to saving as many refugees as possible.

Israeli filmmaker Gideon Raff serves as writer and director on  The Red Sea Diving Resort , which accounts for the film's perspective. The film attempts to balance the narrative so that it's not entirely about the Israeli agents, giving time to Williams' Kebede and Chalk's Colonel as well as a nameless young refugee. But The Red Sea Diving Resort is undoubtedly about Ari and his team: Rachel Reiter (Haley Bennett), Jake Wolf (Michiel Huisman), Sammy Navon (Alessandro Nivola) and Max Rose (Alex Hassell). Because of this, The Red Sea Diving Resort  presents a white savior narrative, in which the stories of the white Israeli agents are more of the focus than of the Ethiopian Jews they're saving. It's undoubtedly a consequence of Raff focusing much of the narrative on Ari and his team, and even the decision to position Kebede as the narrator with opening and closing voiceover doesn't detract from Red Sea Diving Resort being Ari's story more than anyone else's.

Because The Red Sea Diving Resort is Ari's story, Evans is afforded the meatiest role in the film and he excels in playing another big damn hero type - one that isn't too far off from the Captain America role that propelled him to action leading man status. Here, though, Evans plays a more roguish government agent, giving him a chance to be charming even as Ari sticks to his principles. What little depth there is to the character of Ari is provided in brief expository dialogue and Evans' performance, but it feels like an entire subplot with Ari's wife was cut. Instead, The Red Sea Diving Resort is rounded out by the cast playing Ari's team, who work well together, particularly Nivola as Ari's closest friend Sammy; Sammy and Ari's dynamic works well to balance the action-heavy story in a human element. Williams and Chalk are also strong co-stars, but are given much less to work with. Altogether, it's a solid cast lead by a good performance from Evans.

Overall, though, The Red Sea Diving Resort comes across like Raff wasn't sure if he wanted to make an Ocean's 11 style spy thriller or a more dramatic war drama akin to Blood Diamond . The result is an oddly light-hearted refugee action-thriller that includes both montages of Evans doing push-ups in short-shorts and closeups on dead Ethiopian refugees murdered by the Sudanese army. Somehow, it actually works better than expected. For the most part, Raff is able to tie all the disparate elements of the movie together for a thematically consistent story, even if sacrifices were made to do so. Namely, Raff uses dead or tortured Ethiopians to establish stakes for the white characters, but does little to truly develop the refugees as characters aside from Kebede.

While that was Raff's choice as filmmaker, and may have made for a more succinct story, some viewers may understandably take issue with The Red Sea Diving Resort's portrayal of its Ethiopian characters through a white savior narrative (as well as the Zionist messaging of the film). As such, The Red Sea Diving Resort isn't necessary viewing for all movie fans, but should entertain those already keen to give it a chance. In fact, the movie may be most enjoyed by fans of Evans who want to see him in roles different than Captain America (but not too different) or those interested in the historical premise, but who know a movie can't tell the whole story. The Red Sea Diving Resort operates in a weird middle ground between spy thriller and war drama that may be the perfect blend of genres for some, but may be the worst of each for other viewers. Thankfully, with The Red Sea Diving Resort releasing on Netflix, the barrier of entry is low, and if viewers aren't captivated, they can easily turn it off.

The Red Sea Diving Resort  is now streaming on Netflix. It is 129 minutes long and rated TV-MA.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comments section!

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The Red Sea Diving Resort has been dubbed ‘the true story you need to see to believe’, and thanks to Israeli filmmaker Gideon Raff ( Homeland ), now we can. The long-awaited film has finally hit the Netflix airwaves since its fate was unknown after filming back in 2017. This review will have mild spoilers but nothing plot revealing.

The operation of the Red Sea Diving Resort (known as Operation Brothers) took place in the 1980s as an undercover mission to liberate thousands of Jewish Ethiopian refugees from the brutal gangs of Sudan. The Israeli government leased out an abandoned Italian diving resort in Sudan on the Red Sea, utilizing it as a tourist getaway (quite successfully) while smuggling out thousands of Ethiopians in the dead of night.

The story itself is remarkable — a rare “it’s so crazy it just might work” idea — but I felt the film glossed over the mission itself. Whether that be from time restraint or fear of the film being too dark for general audiences, there were a lot of filler scenes that really didn’t add much to the film or what these Mossad agents were trying to accomplish. There’s some good banter, a few funny scenes and a couple of classic self-sacrificial cliches embedded into the heavier material, again, I believe to lighten the plot and for that it does succeed. It seemed as if they wanted to keep Chris Evans in his Captain America role, the selfless, virtue-upholding leader, making Ari Levinson seem a little too good to be true at times. Despite that, Evans plays the part well, giving his all as he typically does in all of his projects. Of course, there are heroic rescues and insight into the savagery the Ethiopians had to endure, but all in all I felt the story never gained its footing. Instead, it awkwardly transitioned from one event to the next, the tone of the film switching a few times. However, the story does get told to completion, and the real-life footage in the credits really makes it all hit home and you can see how well replicated some of that imagery was in the film itself.

The highlight for me was the dynamic between Chris Evans and Alessandro Nivola. Evans plays the mission’s lead agent, Ari, while Nivola supports as his begrudged field doctor partner through every step of the way, Sammy Navon. The way they play out their conflicts (mostly originating from Navon), whether that be with each other or the work at hand, was a great give and take. I wish we’d gotten to see both a little more of the complexity of their relationship and these two great performers. I enjoyed all five of the main Mossad team, but special kudos to Haley Bennett as Rachel Reiter. Being the only female on the team, she was well-written and strong, Bennett playing her to perfection.

We’re all just refugees, aren’t we? -Rachel Reiter

The message of the film is clear, even if it may have been lacking in action-packed sequences and heart-wrenching scenes. This is a story about humanity and compassion in a world that’s beginning to lose touch with those virtues. At the core of it, these men and women saw suffering and went to great lengths and through great risk to help their fellow brothers and sisters. And that’s a feat I think we can all take something away from.

The Red Sea Diving Resort is available now on Netflix .

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The Red Sea Diving Resort Review

Ever hoped Netflix would host Chris Evans ’ bearded Cap practicing yoga to Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like The Wolf?” Look no further. Gideon Raff's The Red Sea Diving Resort has made it happen. However, witnessing this smack in the middle of a based-on-true-events drama about Ethiopian refugees… well, that’s just one of the problematic elements audiences may take with issue with.

Chris Evans’ undercover Israeli agent Ari Levinson has this comforting likeness to Steve Rogers. He’s undyingly motivated by his mission, he’s prone to heroic one-liners, and since we’re off the wake of Avengers: Endgame ’s dominance it’s simply tough for an audience to shake his iconic role. It’s too bad this lets The Red Diving Resort lean too far into a tireless white savior narrative. The drama is so focused on watching Evans flex his big muscles that the prominent issue at hand is pushed to the side.

Inspired by real events, the movie tells the story of Evans’ Mossad agent convincing Israeli intelligence to buy a hotel in Sudan as a front to their refugee smuggling operation to save the Ethiopian Jews. Antics and action ensue when they actually house German tourists and are paid visits from Sudanese enforcement.

The Red Sea Diving Resort highlights the struggles of the Ethiopian Jewish refugees fighting for their lives in Sudan in 1979. The movie shows that they were chased down, slaughtered, raped and so forth by the corrupt government they lay victim too. However it’s told through the lens of a sometimes comedic con-job where the pretty white people are the ones to whom were really supposed to tip our hats.

Kabede Bimro (played by The Wire ’s Michael Kenneth Williams) leads the refugee effort and is central to the story. Unfortunately, he winds up basically becoming the one and only representative of the group, and even still he barely has a part to play. He’s an unsung hero given a couple throw away lines in a situation where he should be one of the most vital parts.

It is an intriguing story and the The Red Diving Resort gets far by simply telling it. This is one of those fantastical true happenings that begs to be adapted for film. It takes audiences on a journey that will spark interest in those who haven’t read up on the conflict, and has a similarity to Argo in its setup. It has moments of groundedness and solid performances from the actors on screen, and all things aside, Evans has a special earnestness about him in his role.

But in the end, Chris Evans is left looking like the comic book character he’s best-known to be, and it just doesn't fit. He does push-ups on three separate occasions for no apparent reason, and is told he’s “reckless” by other characters instead of committing to a new persona for the flick.

Writer/director Gideon Raff (who created the inspiration for the series Homeland - the Israeli series Prisoners of War ) steers away from the grit. It’s practically a knock off Italian Job , where the stakes involving human genocide is given backseat to a bank heist.

Rather than telling the story of the victims of the true story, Red Diving Resort pushes them aside to make room for a one-dimensional team of characters who make up the hotel operation. Evans is joined in the cast by Haley Bennett, Alessandro Nivola, and Michiel Huisman, along with big-names Ben Kingsley and Greg Kinnear as intelligence officials who provide a bit too much of back and forth in the vein of, “Wow! Can they do it?”.

It really says something when the most deeply emotional moment has to do with Ari Levinson’s daughter being sad he isn’t home. Come on - at least he has a home to go to! Cut to him next to hundreds of refugees being nestled together in a crowd after running for their lives. Seriously. Seriously?!?! Also… the line “we’re all just refugees” is said. As if we can all say we share the terrors of being ripped from our homes.

It seems being cinematic was given a higher priority in the making of this film than the natural course of heightening awareness of a serious issue that resonates with global politics today. This isn’t too say the Israeli’s effort to help get Ethiopian Jews to safety wasn’t an incredible feat and should be admired, but The Red Sea Diving Resort ultimately lacks empathy and stinks of ego as it makes a shallow effort to make a complex conflict accessible and entertaining.

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.

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Netflix’s Red Sea Diving Resort gives Chris Evans a white savior complex

Though based on true events, the film fails to rise above crude fantasy

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Share All sharing options for: Netflix’s Red Sea Diving Resort gives Chris Evans a white savior complex

After I described a few gratingly melodramatic scenes from The Red Sea Diving Resort to one of my colleagues, she asked me, “Was this script generated by AI?” It’s not much of a stretch to imagine, particularly if the AI in question had digested old action movies and accidentally seen The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel .

Now streaming on Netflix, the film, directed by Gideon Raff (Showtime’s Homeland ), is notable for two reasons: First, it’s based on a true story most are likely unfamiliar with, of a group of spies in the 1980s who used a coastal resort as a means of rescuing and evacuating Jewish Ethiopians from Sudan to Israel. Second, it stars Chris Evans.

The big question facing the actors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been just how they’ll break out of the molds set for them in an age where the notion of the movie star is increasingly rare. Yes, Chris Evans was famous before taking on the mantle of Captain America, but there’s no question that his profile has risen considerably since becoming the First Avenger. He’s proven that he can do other things besides playing the hero, starring in Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer and Rian Johnson’s upcoming Knives Out , and even tackling theater in Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero , but will any of it allow him to really leave Cap behind?

The question wouldn’t warrant too much pondering, but it’s inescapable in The Red Sea Diving Resort , given how the movie fails to turn Evans into anything but the most boring hero archetype possible. He’s the kind of guy whose introductory, establishing moment is saving a refugee child, whose actual child leaves him out of her drawings of their family, who says, “We never leave anyone behind,” and who is chided by his superiors for being a loose cannon.

These earnest tropes aren’t bad in and of themselves, but they’re painful in a story about black refugees where most of the roles filled by nonwhite actors are corpses, corrupt officials, or evil military officers. All of the fellow spies who assist Evans in his quest to help ferry refugees to safety are white, and though Michael K. Williams has a role as the man spearheading the operation on the refugees’ side, his biggest moments are to be rescued by Evans and praise him in voice-over.

The focus turns the film into a quintessential white savior movie, making every person of color a prop to be saved rather than a developed character. That clunkiness is also exacerbated by how wildly The Red Sea Diving Resort swings from kooky fun whenever the agents are shown running the resort to harsh scenes of violence against the refugees. Movies can be and are more than one thing at a time, but the two threads that Raff is tying together are so discrete — and feel so inappropriately matched — that it makes the refugees’ plight feel even more incidental to the heroism of these white spies.

The rest of the movie unfolds pretty much exactly as you’d expect it to, with the bad guy firing his gun into the air in frustration, a conflict between the two main men who eventually begrudgingly come to accept each other, and real footage of Operation Brothers playing over the credits. There’s nothing surprising about it except for how poorly it’s all handled.

More’s the pity, too, as the story of the rescue of hundreds of refugees is a remarkable one, and the plight of the Jewish Ethiopian population is one that I hadn’t heard of prior to watching the film. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really seem to be on Raff’s mind, either, as the film is less an appeal to basic human kindness for those in need than an excuse to make a fun action movie based on true events. The only demographic to which The Red Sea Diving Resort won’t be a disappointment is crowd tuning in specifically for Evans, as he spends a good chunk of the movie shirtless, and all of it sporting a great beard. But it’s not the post-Marvel breakout that, presumably, Evans would want it to be.

The Red Sea Diving Resort is streaming on Netflix now.

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The Red Sea Diving Resort Review: A Lifeless Thriller That’s Not Worth the Trip

Chris Evans’ first post-Marvel venture – the bland historical thriller, The Red Sea Diving Resort – is now available on Netflix…

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For Gideon Raff’s thriller The Red Sea Diving Resort , now streaming on Netflix , the writing is on the wall from the get-go. Opening in the early 1980s, in rural Ethiopia, we find a group of Mossad agents shepherding a handful of Ethiopian Jews out of the country and to the perceived safety of Jerusalem. As the truck prepares to leave, one agent, Ari Levinson (played by America’s now-departed ass, Chris Evans), realizes there’s a child missing and sprints back through the fields to rescue an oblivious young boy. It’s a moment of bravado that tells you exactly the kind of film The Red Sea Diving Resort intends to be.

Based on true events, The Red Sea Diving Resort dramatizes the plight of Ethiopian Jews attempting to flee their country to Israel. What writer-director Raff zooms in on is one savvy, outrageous idea from Evans’ reckless protagonist: to reopen a beachside hotel on the Sudanese coast and use it as a front to ship persecuted Jews out of the country.

It’s a deeply complex story, both politically and culturally, and a story that deserves better than Raff’s script, which truncates the narrative’s nuances and amalgamates key players. He opts for easy action-thriller shorthand and, most egregiously, sidelines the refugees whose struggle the film seemingly wants to depict.  

Netflix quietly dumping a relatively new film with Chris Evans is enough to set off the alarms to begin with. The Red Sea Diving Resort is far from Evans’ finest hour, but he is a reliable, welcome presence. As our lead, Ari is only worth standing behind in the few moments when Evans is allowed to be his charismatic self but otherwise, he’s a dull cipher who endlessly repeats stock hero lines like “we leave no one behind.” 

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Further Reading: New on Netflix This Month 

As his laughably incongruous, uber-attractive colleagues, Haley Bennett, Alessandro Nivola, and Michiel Huisman are absolutely fine. They allow their natural charms to do most of the heavy-lifting and the same applies to their superiors, unexpectedly played by Greg Kinnear and Ben Kingsley. None of them put in a dud performance here, but the script is so devoid of charm that it’s no surprise the stars have little enthusiasm for the material.

As the Ethiopian Jews are depicted as an anonymous mass, only afforded individual lines when one of them is dying or complaining, Raff has created a composite spokesperson in Michael K. Williams’ Kebede Bimro, perplexingly billed as Evans’ co-star.

Williams, so excellent in The Wire and his freshly Emmy-nominated turn in When They See Us , is typically game here but he struggles in a film that simply doesn’t care about him. As the apparent voice of the voiceless, Bimro is somehow often non-existent, disappearing for large portions of the film and then only briefly reappearing to remind us he’s still technically a character. He functions as a reminder of the film’s failing of its subject matter. 

In terms of actual thrills, The Red Sea Diving Resort is also unexpectedly tame. There’s little tension developed but also a lack of interest in actually developing suspense, lurching unsteadily between dialogue-heavy scenes and sudden bursts of violence.

With that said, the cinematography is particularly eye-catching, and Raff’s direction is clean, doing a remarkable job at enlivening scenery that is, for the most part, monotonous. It’s a thriller that might work for some people and the premise is abounding in potential, but ultimately,  The Red Sea Diving Resor t just isn’t worth the visit.

The Red Sea Diving Resort is available now on Netflix.

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Patrick Sproull

Netflix’s The Red Sea Diving Resort Ending, Explained

The Hebrew Bible tells the story of Moses, a man who led the Exodus across the Red Sea to save hundreds of thousands of Jews from slavery and execution at the hands of the Egyptians. This is perhaps the first tale of mass evacuation that children get to know about in their religious scriptures, and it is certainly not the last. People still have to leave their ancestral homes, they have to run for their lives from the towns and cities they grew up in, they have to leave the country where generations of their family have lived and died. It happened thousands of years ago and is still happening all around the world. Humanity prizes itself for showing tremendous courage in the face of a travesty. What we forget is that it is more often than not us inflicting the pain and unimaginable cruelty on each other.

The more astounding thing is that we never really learn. We repeat the same crimes over and over again, to see if there are still any heroes amongst us; if people still have the strength to survive the worst of things. ‘The Red Sea Diving Resort’ focuses on the story of the Ethiopian Jews who had to flee their motherland from the fear of persecution, taking a journey through the desert, surviving starvation and disease to find their way to the promised land. If you haven’t yet seen the film, catch it on Netflix. SPOILERS AHEAD

Summary of the Plot

The story begins with two Mossad agents, Ari Levinson ( Chris Evans ) and Sammy Navon (Alessandro Nivola), helping Kebede Bimro (Michael K. Williams) smuggle a group of Ethiopians to the refugee camp in Sudan. When they are arrested by the Sudanese police, the agency decides to pull the plug on the operation and they are called back home. However, Ari refuses to let it go and comes up with an ingenious plan to get the Ethiopian Jews out of the refugee camps and allow the Israeli Navy to get them to Egypt. He proposes it to his superiors and all of them agree that it is an insane idea, but with no other option, they decide to greenlight it. The strategy is to use an abandoned diving resort as the base for operations and use its port to give an escape to the people.

To bring the plan to action, Ari brings together a team of individuals who are insane enough to take the assignment. This includes Rachel Reiter (Haley Bennett), Jacob Wolf (Michiel Huisman) and Max Rose (Alex Hassell). They strike a deal with the Sudanese government in the guise of a businessman. Their identities as Israeli and Jews remain a secret (considering the hostility of Sudan towards Israel at that time). They renovate the resort and even host tourists, all the while getting hundreds of refugees safely across the continent, every couple of days. Despite the success rate, they are not free of the danger. Soon, they come across a psychopathic Colonel Abdel Ahmed (Chris Chalk) who is suspicious of them and will jump at the first mistake they make. It is the matter of when, rather than if.

The Ethiopian Civil War

‘The Red Sea Diving Resort’ picks up the events in the middle of a war-ravaged Ethiopia. Even when we get the basic idea of what the film is about, we are not given a full picture of what is actually happening in the country and how dangerous this mission really is. For those who know the history of Ethiopia, or are aware of the Ethiopian Civil War, it is easier to grasp the urgency of the mission. If you don’t know what I am talking about, then here is a condensed version of the events.

The Ethiopian Empire, which also included now-independent Eritrea, was an absolute monarchy that held the seat of power since 1270. In 1974, a Soviet-backed Communist military regime overthrew the monarchs and took over the reign. While the freedom from the previous rulers was a relief, the new government wasn’t so good either. As famine, economic decline and prevalent crime ate away Ethiopia, the left-wing anti-communists, supported by the UN, rose up to voice their dissent and unacceptance. Meanwhile, the Eritrean War of Independence was gaining momentum, and the government’s brutal ways to quash it made the public sympathetic with the rebellions.

The Beginning of the Exodus

The state of unrest in Ethiopia led many people to emigrate to the neighbouring countries in order to ensure their survival. Israel, due to its soft-spot for the Jews and the policy that allows Jews from all over the world to find a haven there (according to The Law of Return passed on July 5, 1650), attracted many Ethiopian Jews towards it. Understanding the dire circumstances in which their brothers were trying to survive, Israel decided to pull its weight and, in 1977, stuck a deal with the Ethiopian government. According to this, they would allow Ethiopian Jews to leave the country through airlifts in return for heavy arms. The deal worked wonderfully, for a year! In February 1978, Israel’s then-foreign minister, Moshe Dayan, gave away the plan to the media. This revelation angered Ethiopian leaders. In response, they not only broke the deal but also started picking out Jews and another genocide began.

While any normal Jew would have to bear the brunt of this hatred, the main targets were the activists involved in getting the Ethiopians out of the country. One of them was Farede Yazazao Aklum. It is he who served as the inspiration for Williams’ character, Kebede Bimro. Scared for his life, Aklum fled to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, crossing the desert barefoot with nothing but a small diary in his hand. Even in such trying times, he wasn’t thinking about the fact that there was a price on his head and that if they found him or his family, death would be a reprieve. His thoughts and concerns were with the people he had left behind in Sudan, wondering how he could get them out. On reaching Khartoum, he found that the refugee camps were full of people running from the war. He thought back to the journey he had made through the desert and realised that the people who want to escape the hellish conditions of Sudan could do the same.

The first thing he did was contact his liaison in the Mossad, the people with whom he had collaborated during the airlifts. He got Danny Limor, the man whom Chris Evans portrays in the form of Ari Levinson. (Limor also served as the script consultant for the movie.) He wrote a letter, telling them how they could save all those people and beseeching them to come back and finish what they started. But more than the support of Israel, Aklum knew he needed to the support of the Ethiopians. The real test was now- convincing thousands of people to leave the comfort of their homes and take an arduous journey, placing their faith in the government thousand miles away from their own. He wrote a letter to each and every village, reminding people of the journey Moses took, telling them to come together and do it again so that they can finally set foot on the holy land of Jerusalem.

Aklum’s words resonated with the people and they agreed to follow him wherever he would take them. In this way, thousands of Ethiopian Jews found their way to the refugee camps in Sudan. The question now was to how to get them to Israel.

Is Red Sea Diving Resort Based on a True Story? How Close is it to Reality?

For a mission that took place over the course of five years, ‘The Red Sea Diving Resort’ does a decent job of covering it in a span of two hours. This means that the writers had to take some heavy creative licences and distort the events just enough to turn it into a thrilling movie. Here are some of the facts that were warped to give way to fiction.

First off, let’s call the Resort by its real name, Arous Holiday Village. It was established by Italians who were promised the service of proper roads and electricity by the Sudan government. But when they failed to make good on that promise, the Italians, who were also repulsed by the dangerous political state of the country, decided to call quits on it and left. It was only a decade later that the government found a client willing to lease the place. Only, they were not really in the mood to just use it for hospitality. The resort opened in ‘81 and actually functioned a long time after its usage had been proved redundant by other grander operations. While we just see five agents in the film, in reality, there were a lot more.

The character of Rachel is a compilation of various female agents who served there, running the resort to keep the tourists around and maintain the cover. The agents were strictly told not to allow anyone to know of their religion or nationality, not even the people that they were saving. As far as the refugees were concerned, they were just European sympathisers working for the welfare of Jews. Despite their good job to keep their identities a secret, there were a few habits that threatened to blow their cover. One of the Canadian tourists identified their religious affiliations by noticing the way they sliced their salads! Fortunately, he decided to keep his mouth shut and nothing bad came out of it.

In the movie, the agents are shown to hurriedly leave the resort with 400 refugees, which makes us wonder what happened to the tourists! Don’t worry though. The evacuation didn’t happen this way in real life. In truth, the resort was functioning so well that it became profitable and the agents could use the money to get more trucks and other services. They even organised Christmas parties and hosted some high-profile people. With the fall of the government in the late 80s, the situation in Sudan became more volatile, which is when the agents were relieved of their duties and were escorted out safely.

The final scene of evacuation is adrenaline pumping, but it is not very real. The British airfield (with a tree in the middle of the runway) was used by the Mossad before they had to ask for the involvement of the CIA. Three successful flights had rescued refugees from there, but when the army became suspicious of the plan, they had to find another site for the airlifts. The makeshift place served for next 17 rescue missions.

Another scene that received a do-over was the last night-mission when the army and the Israeli Navy almost start a war. For the most part, it was true. They were sending people on the rafts when out of nowhere, the soldiers started firing at them. Once everyone was gone, Evans’s character comes out of hiding and starts scolding the soldiers for shooting the tourists. But unlike Col. Ahmed, the real head was intimidated by it, so he apologised and left. Ari and Sammy weren’t really arrested. But this incident did mark the end of the rescue by boat, and they had to turn towards the option of airlifts.

The Ending: Did They Go Back?

After the heavy struggle with the army, the agents succeed in getting the refugees out with the help of the CIA. After landing safely on Israel’s soil, Kabede tells Ari that there are still thousands of people who need their help. Ari assures him that they will go back for them. And they did. In fact, after the success of Operation Brothers, the Israeli government decided to go bolder and increase the outcome of their plans. They found the opportunity to do so when a famine struck Sudan. The government made a deal with the dictator and greenlit Operation Moses, under which more than 7000 people were airlifted in a matter of three months. But this agreement came to an end when the news was leaked to the media. But that wasn’t the end.

There were a couple of other operations that got a lot of Ethiopian Jews out. One of them was Operation Solomon that took place in the early 90s. Within 36 hours, the government had 34 flights airlift more than 14000 people. The seats were removed from the planes to extend the capacity by as much as they could. Even after rescuing so many people, there were still many waiting in the refugee camps. Their numbers got so overwhelming that the government was out of its wits on how to get them out. A lot of people died in the camps due to starvation and disease. Many lost their lives while making the journey from Ethiopia to Sudan.

Farede continued his work with the Mossad and died at the age of 60, only a few years back. After the collapse of Mengistu’s regime, a lot of refugees decided to go back home. Since then, more than one million Ethiopians have returned, not just from Sudan, but also from Somalia, Kenya and other neighbouring countries. Israel continues to be the haven for Jews, and by the end of 2008, more than a hundred thousand people of Ethiopian descent had Israeli citizenship.

For the hundreds of stories that we know, there are thousands that we are completely unaware of. What we see in the news, read in the papers and hear through any other medium is just a small fraction of what is happening on the ground level. The story of ‘Operation Brothers’ is one such thing. The operation ran for five whole years and is responsible for the evacuation of thousands of Ethiopian Jews.

For a plan of this scale, the tale of such courage, and an ingenious plan that seems straight out of a Hollywood movie, how and why did it remain in the shadows for so long? The reason behind keeping it a secret was that the Mossad did not want to compromise the accessibility that the Resort gave them to the continent. The less the people knew about it, the more chances they had to keep it up and running in the good faith of the Sudanese government and employ it for future purposes if it ever comes to that. Moreover, even they had saved a great number of people, they knew that there were still a lot of people left behind and the Resort had to be up and running, if and when they needed to return to the mission.

In an almost poetic sense, the Red Sea, once again, became the passage for the liberation of thousands of Jews. For his impeccable service to the community, Aklum received the tag of “Little Moses” and is still considered the saviour by many people. While the movie seems more focused on covering the story from the perspective of the Mossad agents , the real stakes were for the Ethiopian populace who willingly let go of everything they ever had and placed their faith in their rescuers. Had the story been told from their perspective, or at least, from that of Kebede’s, maybe it would have hit us harder. For now, I guess, we should applaud it for bringing this story to everyone’s attention in the first place. ‘The Red Sea Diving Resort’ does a good job of covering the entirety of the operation in just over two hours, but we know that it could have been so much more.

Watching people huddle up in trucks, seeing children running from bullets when they should be playing chase with their friends, witnessing the massacre of hundreds of people in their own homeland makes us wonder if there is any difference between then and now, between the dark ages and the modern world? The movie might not have succeeded in hitting the mark it intended, but it does make you acknowledge the similar trials that a thousand more are going through right now. While the film makes us appreciate the effort the government put into getting all those people to safety, I hope it also reminds them exactly why they did so in the first place and what repercussions their current actions have on the lives of thousands of other people.

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'Red Sea Diving Resort' Review: Chris Evans Still Playing the Hero Post-MCU

Alessandro Nivola and Chris Chalk are the standouts in Gideon Raff's drama, which hits Netflix on July 31.

It's hard for me to believe, since part of me still thinks of him as the local kid I heard about growing up who got cast in Not Another Teen Movie , but Chris Evans is the star of the biggest movie of all time. Not Leonardo DiCaprio . Not Sam Worthington . No, it was Evans' Captain America who recently led Avengers: Endgame to the ultimate box office crown. With the MCU now firmly in Evans' rear-view mirror, it's going to be interesting to see what the future holds for him. I still don't think Evans is quite on the level of some of his peers, but he is  steadily improving as a dramatic actor, and though it's been five years since he really challenged himself outside of the MCU, the new Netflix movie The Red Sea Diving Resort offers Evans his meatiest opportunity yet.

The film is based on the incredible true story of a group of international agents who used a deserted hotel in Sudan as a front to smuggle thousands of Jewish refugees out of Ethiopia in the early '80s. It was written, directed and produced by Gideon Raff , whose name I recognize from the credits of one of my favorite TV shows, Homeland -- itself an international espionage thriller. The title might be a little clunky, but no one thought Argo was a great title either, and look how that movie turned out. It won Best Picture. The Red Sea Diving Resort won't win any Oscars (not that it's eligible anyway), but the story works on its own terms, and the seaside setting is inherently cinematic.

Evans plays Mossad agent Ari Levinson, first seen doing push-ups in the back of a pickup truck. I wish I was kidding about this, but I'm not. Ari works for the Israeli government, and he and his longtime pal Sammy Navon (Alessandro Nivola) have been helping a courageous community leader named Kabede Bimro (Michael K. Williams) smuggle thousands of brave Ethiopian Jews out of the country and into Jerusalem, where they will be free from religious persecution. Together, they strive to "leave no one behind."

Sammy is a trauma doctor whose confidence has been shaken after suffering an injury to his hand, and it's his adrenaline-fueled friendship with the more impulsive Ari that serves as the primary relationship in the film. Their friendship is built on a mutual pursuit of danger, and because of that, there's a tension between them that always simmers beneath the surface. The two of them are eventually joined on their noble mission by Haley Bennett  ( The Girl on the Train ), Michiel Huisman  ( Game of Thrones ) and Alex Hassell , who can currently be seen -- or not -- as the often-nude Translucent on Amazon's The Boys .

This quintet of international agents devise a plan to take over the strategically located Red Sea Diving Resort in Sudan and use the dilapidated hotel to temporarily house refugees as they await transportation to Jerusalem. When a bus full of German tourists mistake the resort for an actual, functional hotel, they unknowingly wind up providing the perfect cover for Ari and his team, who must now cater to guests during the day while carrying out their dangerous missions at night. But as thousands of refugees disappear from local camps, the Sudanese military begins to catch on, and they find the new, white hoteliers awfully suspicious.

I'll be honest, for the first 30 minutes or so, I was skeptical about RSDR 's prospects, but it turns out that the film just needs some time to settle in, because by the end, it did win me over. Why? Because this is simply a good story. I don't see how anyone can really deny that, and a good story goes a long way in my book. But every good story -- well, most -- needs a good villain, and the real reason that this film's second half plays much better than its first comes down to the arrival of  Chris Chalk . Best known for playing Lucius Fox on Gotham , Chalk provides the villain that this film sorely needs. As Sudanese military leader Col. Abdel Ahmed, he gives us someone to root against, and that's an essential ingredient when you're trying to satisfy an audience. With a lit cigar smoldering beneath his dead-eye stare, Chalk reminded me of a cross between Daniel Kaluuya in Widows and Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation . Raff conjures some strong moments of genuine suspense while Col. Ahmed and his men search the resort for the hidden refugees, and Chalk's scenes were the highlight for me.

Lending the proceedings further weight and gravitas are Oscar winners  Ben Kingsley  and Greg Kinnear . The former plays an Israeli government official who's skeptical of Ari's plan, but doesn't have a better one, while the latter plays a CIA bureaucrat torn between nabbing Ari and his team, and helping them. Kinnear gets the film's best line involving the Hebrew word "shalom," but Nivola probably has the best material to play with overall, and along with Chalk, he's the clear standout here, as he makes Sammy feel like a real person with self-doubts and resentments. Huisman and Hassell are given little to work with, and I can't say there's much to Bennett's character, either, as she's more or less relegated to concierge while the men go off on missions -- not that she doesn't get to engage in some hand-to-hand combat of her own.

But if there's one character who comes up short here, through no fault of the actor, it's Kabede Bimro, the leader of the Ethiopian Jews who puts his own life on the line to ensure that no one is left behind. Michael K. Williams has made a career out of playing bad guys, so it's nice to see him switch things up here. However, Kabede is supposed to be the heart and soul of this movie, and unfortunately, the character feels too underwritten to allow for much emotional impact. I would've given this movie a B+ if it had tugged at my heartstrings just a little bit more, but Red Sea Diving Resort just isn't that kind of movie.

In the end, the success of this film rests on Evans' shoulders, and while he's more than serviceable here, and his hair looks great, I don't think it's crazy to suggest that he has a certain ceiling as a dramatic actor, at least as far as I've seen. I thought he was great in the MCU, and I think he excels with comedy (see Scott Pilgrim and the Knives Out trailer), but he just doesn't have the dramatic weight this kind of film requires to truly soar. So while I'll recommend Red Sea Diving Resort , I will warn you that it's long (apprx. 129 minutes), it gets off to a rocky start, and Evans still has room for improvement when he's not holding Cap's trademark shield.

I invoked Argo above because it's clear that  The Red Sea Diving Resort desperately wants to be Argo , right down to its funky '70s setting and race-to-an-airplane ending. It may not be as good as Ben Affleck 's Best Picture winner, but that's a high bar, and as far as Netflix movies go, this one has to count among the streamer's better releases. In fact, it's more satisfying than Netflix's own Affleck movie  Triple Frontier , and I'm willing to bet it cost a lot less, too. Without the MCU to fall back on, Evans will be forced to redefine himself as a leading man, and this streaming effort is worth diving into to see his progression as an actor, as it proves he doesn't need superpowers to play a hero... you just have to surround him with the right team.