THE STORY – When a cable car malfunctions in the mountains, eight people, including six students, are trapped high above a valley. As time runs out before the final cable fails, rescue teams work against the clock to save the stranded passengers.
THE CAST – N/A
THE TEAM – Mohammed Ali Naqvi (Director/Writer) & Bilal Sami (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 77 Minutes
Some documentary films cover real-life events so extraordinary they seem far-fetched, if not outright impossible. The 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue, in which an entire soccer team and their coach were saved from a flooded cave in Thailand, inspired a wave of documentaries and dramatizations. Among them was Ron Howard’s 2022 drama “Thirteen Lives,” starring Viggo Mortensen, Joel Edgerton, and Colin Farrell, which vividly recreated the harrowing rescue and was well received by both critics and audiences. Still, many consider the 2021 documentary “The Rescue,” directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, to be the definitive version of the story. By combining real footage with firsthand interviews, the film’s authenticity made the experience especially visceral and emotionally gripping.
Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s “Hanging by a Wire” belongs to this tradition of high-stakes rescue documentaries, chronicling a terrifying real-life incident in northern Pakistan in 2023. In the rural village of Battagram, it is common for schoolchildren to travel to school by cable car, some of which stretch more than 1,000 feet above rocky valleys and rivers. These systems are often assembled by local residents who, lacking adequate government support, have taken responsibility for improving their children’s daily lives. Over time, the community has learned to rely on itself. While this self-sufficiency is admirable, it also leaves room for dangerous mechanical failures, especially without professional oversight.
One such failure occurred on a clear day in 2023 in the Himalayan foothills, when a cable car stalled mid-crossing after two of its supporting cables snapped. The small metal cabin hung by a single wire, with six schoolboys trapped inside. Horrified crowds gathered on both sides of the ravine, debating how to help while others recorded the unfolding crisis. Much of this footage would later become central to the film. A drone operator who happened to be nearby captured astonishing images, maneuvering close to the suspended car to assess the condition of both the children and the structure. The resulting footage is as breathtaking as it is unsettling, made even more powerful by the uncertainty surrounding the boys’ fate at the time.
Local residents initially attempted to mount their own rescue efforts before authorities intervened and took control of the situation. What followed included reckless solo attempts by amateur zipliners, helicopters tangling rescue ropes with cables, and the car violently swaying in midair. The story is so dramatic that it requires no embellishment, and the raw footage needs no artificial enhancement. “Hanging by a Wire” relies primarily on archival material, supplemented by a few reenactments featuring real participants.
Cinematographer Brendan McGinty lends these sequences a striking visual texture, while Naqvi and editor Will Grayburn skillfully weave them into the documentary’s larger narrative. The film also incorporates interviews with the survivors and their families. Although viewers gradually learn each boy’s fate through these talking-head segments, the revelations never diminish the tension. If anything, they deepen the emotional impact. Composer Sven Faulconer further elevates the film with a powerful score that steadily builds anxiety before swelling into moments of relief and triumph.
While “Hanging by a Wire” excels in depicting the rescue itself, it does not fully explore the political and socioeconomic conditions that made the cable car system so dangerous in the first place. The government and military initially responded with hesitation before asserting heavy control once international attention intensified. This shift hints at a larger story involving class divisions, institutional failures, and tensions between civilians and authorities. Unfortunately, these themes are only lightly addressed and never examined in depth.
Overall, Mohammed Ali Naqvi delivers a gripping and informative documentary about an incident that could easily have ended in tragedy. From astonishing drone footage to seamless reenactments and deeply affecting interviews, “Hanging by a Wire” is both impactful and immersive. Although the film seems poised to say more about systemic inequality and political responsibility, it ultimately stops short, perhaps due to external limitations. Even so, it remains an authentic and compelling retelling of an extraordinary event. It stands as a testament to community, perseverance, and the enduring capacity for human courage in even the most desperate circumstances.
