Everest Dark Review: Mountains May Emote

Everest Dark
(Canada, 90 min.)
Dir. Jereme Watt
Prod. Merit Jensen Carr, Jereme Watt, and Michael Bodnarchuk

Do mountains express emotions? That question lingers around Everest Dark just as the clouds and billowing snow envelop the titular mountain. Years of expeditions and tragedies make Everest both a graveyard and a garbage dump, but it's supposed to be a sacred place. These competing realities, along with the Eastern perspective about the mountain's presence as a living, powerful being collide with Western notions of conquering every inch of the Earth.

Veteran climber Mingma Tsiri Sherpa confronts his relationship with Everest as his beloved place becomes a deadly tourist trap. He serves as the guide in Everest Dark as an experienced climber, who has summited Everest 19 times and holds a world record for ascending all 14 "eight thousanders" on the first attempt.

Mingma shares how Everest spoke to him in a dream. He recalls Everest's rumbling anger, which he credits as a product of all the bodies left on the mountain. Without giving ill-fated climbers their proper funeral rites, Mingma explains, their souls don't rest.

Everest Dark follows Mingma back up the mountain as he breaks his promise to never climb it again. However, he does so with an eye to putting souls to rest. He aims to recover some bodies and send them to their respective homes.

What's most striking is the sheer volume of climbers in the background. Nighttime shots prove especially illuminating as climbers' lanterns create an incandescent snake that makes its way up the mountain. Near the summit, there's a traffic jam with over 100 climbers ascending and descending.

Everest Dark nevertheless serves a cautionary tale about the perils of the mountain and the consequences of commercializing a sacred place. The film provides some truly awesome shots of Everest thanks to high altitude cinematography that captures every inch of the expedition.

Everest Dark opens in select theatres on March 2.