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Without checking online, can you name the first person to climb Mount Everest? If Sir Edmund Hillary comes to your mind, Nirmal “Nims” Purja wants you to know that Sir Edmund was able to reach the summit of the highest mountain in the world because of the man who reached it with him, the Nepali Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay. In the documentary “14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible,” Purja undertakes a quest even Sir Edmund and Norgay might find daunting. He wants to take an all-Nepali group to the top of the 14 tallest mountains in the world, each more than 8000 meters (26,247 feet) above sea level.

There is a reason that we use mountain metaphors to speak of tasks that are beyond the realm of the achievable, describing them as “insurmountable.” Only a handful of people have climbed all 14 of the 8,000-meter mountains. The first was Reinhold Messner , and it took him 16 years to do them all. Purja decided he would do it in seven months. Usually, one of this documentary’s experts tells us, any of these mountains is a two-month project. Aside from the almost unthinkable challenge each mountain poses, the physical, emotional, and financial problems of doing them in such a short time and the unpredictability of the weather, there are the geopolitical/diplomatic challenges, with mountains in Nepal, Pakistan, and Tibet/China. And Purja almost always climbs without additional oxygen, to altitudes with just a third of the oxygen we are used to breathing. One of the mountains normally takes four days to summit. He does it in one. With a hangover.

“I was told that my project was impossible,” Purja tells us. “So, I decided to name it Project: Possible.” He is determined to do it to give Nepali climbers the credit they are due, and, he notes, to pay them more than they would get from Western climbers. It will burnish the resumes of his team and provide more opportunities. He makes a point of introducing us to each member of the team at the beginning of the film, calling them his brothers and telling us about each one’s special skill. Over the course of the film, we see his determination but also his heroic generosity of spirit, helping others who had given up to achieve the summits and stopping, at the risk of missing his deadline, to help climbers suffering from exposure or altitude sickness.

They discover one on their descent from their first peak and go back to help him. “You surmounted one of the most dangerous summits in the world and now you’re going to go back up there?” another climber asks, admitting that he was hoping the stranded climber had died so they would not have to find a way to get him to a hospital. “I have never left anyone behind,” Purja says about his time in the military. “I was not going to do that on the mountain.” Purja and his team have to stay awake all night with the critically ill climber. At 6 AM they get him to base camp where he is picked up by a helicopter. Later, another fallen climber they come across will not be so lucky.

Purja, a member of the Nepali Gurkha special forces, is the youngest son of a loving family and was always intensely competitive. He goes on a 20 km run with a 75-pound pack every morning and goes to the gym after work until 11. In one scene we see a very impressed high altitude specialist comment on his physical condition.

Those of us who will never make it to the top of one of these peaks will get an unprecedented opportunity to see what the top of the world looks like with pristine images of stunning clarity and grandeur captured by Purja himself. Viewers will find them nearly as breathtaking if they had climbed to the top gasping in the high altitude.

With 14 mountains plus backstory in just over 90 minutes we do not get to spend a lot of time learning the specifics of each mountain, but we do get to see some of the individual differences, here six feet of snow, there treacherous rocks or vertiginous tors. Mount Everest is packed with climbers while the others are almost empty. A photo Purja takes of the long, long line to the top of Everest goes viral worldwide. But I wished for more information about the complicated negotiations with China, the particular challenges of each mountain, and how the team adapted to changing circumstances.

Director Torquil Jones touches on a lot of material, skillfully using animation for some near-death experiences and less skillfully using special effects and editing to suggest the distortion of reality caused by HACE: high altitude cerebral edema. There are well-selected comments from experts and a climber Project Possible helped to reach a summit. And we see Purja’s family, including the brother who urges him not to take financial and physical risks and the mother he adores who is very frail but blesses his journey. Messner is candid about the hardship involved. “People will say it is fun. It is not fun. It’s a place where you have to learn to cope with pain.” But Purja and his team have enormous appeal, clear about the dangers but always showing warmth and good cheer.

Purja says he never wants to hear a climber say “my Sherpa helped me.” The Sherpas have names. Without their names, he says, “they are ghosts.” He knows that if a Westerner accomplished these climbs, it would be world news. This movie shows us the teamwork, the dedication, the national pride, the astonishing vistas, and the reason that Purja and his team deserve to be as renowned as Sir Edmund Hillary, maybe more.

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Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

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14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (2021)

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‘14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible’ Review: Climbing at a Breakneck Pace

A documentary follows the Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja as he tries to add cultural depth to the sport’s highs.

By Lisa Kennedy

As the mountaineering genre continues its ascent into the mainstream, there’s a thesis awaiting a graduate student about male climbers and their mothers, wives or partners. Touched on in the Oscar winner “Free Solo” and summer’s “ The Alpinist ,” those relationships get screen time in “14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible,” about the Nepalese climber Nirmal Purja, known as Nimsdai, and his attempt to summit the world’s 14 highest peaks in seven months. (The previous record was seven years.) While his wife, Suchi Purja, charmingly attempts to explain her husband’s embrace of risk to civilians, it’s his ailing mother who underscores more tender lessons about her son’s drive but also about the mortality we all face.

As a young man, Purja enlisted in his country’s legendary armed forces, the Gurkhas, and later joined the United Kingdom Special Forces. He seized on the climbing endeavor, which he called “Project Possible,” as a way to highlight the contributions of Nepalese mountaineers, who are more than the Sherpas to Western expeditions. Early on, the project’s four other climbers — Mingma David Sherpa, Geljen Sherpa, Lakpa Dendi Sherpa and Gesman Tamang — get introduced as vital characters. They are as devoted to Purja’s seemingly mad mission as he is.

Much of the documentary’s climbing footage was taken by Purja and his team. The director Torquil Jones uses those images, as well as fresh interviews (the alpine legend Reinhold Messner waxing beautifully existential) and some vivid animation to craft a documentary exploring themes of generosity, danger, drive and national character.

In widening its aperture — from the ascents to visits to Purja’s childhood home as well as brief dives into Nepal’s history — “14 Peaks” expands a genre often focused on the feats of individuals to celebrate lessons about vast dreams and communal bonds.

14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes. Watch on Netflix.

An earlier version of the summary with this review misspelled the surname of the documentary’s subject. He is Nirmal Purja, not Pirja.

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14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible Reviews

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Dec 30, 2022

Sometimes, a blur is the best way to convey the mechanics of motion. Sometimes, physical momentum is the only way to express emotional stillness.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2022

Purja is a complex athlete, and is making a powerful statement in a world where white adventurers dominate headlines.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 9, 2021

The best outdoor documentaries can thrill you like you've been on the mountain yourself, without having to leave the comfort of your own couch, and 14 Peaks does just that.

Full Review | Dec 2, 2021

"14 Peaks" expands a genre often focused on the feats of individuals to celebrate lessons about vast dreams and communal bonds.

Full Review | Dec 1, 2021

Yes, the views are spectacular, but it's actually become something of a cliché... It left me cold.

"14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible" might not immediately draw viewers without connection or interest in mountaineering. But its combination of life-or-death suspense, compelling back story, message of possibility, and gorgeous scenery prove captivating.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 1, 2021

"14 Peaks" is a uniquely stirring journey.

Full Review | Nov 30, 2021

If the uplifting "14 Peaks" motivates viewers to get off the couch and go climb a mountain, well, that's a win

This movie shows us the teamwork, the dedication, the national pride, the astonishing vistas, and the reason that Purja and his team deserve to be as renowned as Sir Edmund Hillary, maybe more.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 29, 2021

A stunning spectacle that highlights the unbreakable spirit of a historic climber while making sure to present his humanity and vulnerabilities.

Full Review | Original Score: 8.5/10 | Nov 28, 2021

14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (2021)

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14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible review – the inspiring story of a madman

This review of the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible does not contain spoilers.

“Sometimes, the idea that you come up with may seem impossible to the rest of the world, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible to you.” – Nirmal Purja

Netflix’s documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible is the story of making that possible which seems impossible. The story of Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja and his unbeatable courage to dream big is as inspirational as it is exhilarating.

The documentary captures the story of Nims ‘Project Possible’ to summit the world’s highest mountain peaks above 8000 meters. An impossible task, which takes climbers several years to complete, Nims set the goal to become the fastest to complete that within 7 months. And he did that with his team, Mingma David, Geljen Sherpa, Lakpa Dendi, and Gesman Sherpa within 6 months and 6 days, breaking 6 mountaineering world records.

Apart from an overwhelming story to witness, this documentary explores the hard truths of the mountaineering business, especially for those from Eastern countries. In terms of finance or publicity, the Eastern mountaineers do not get much support.

It’s an irony that all the Westerners come to the East to achieve the summit of these highest peaks with help of Easterners (Nepalese Sherpas), still they (Easterners) get unrecognized. In a striking dialogue, Nims quoted when Westerners summited, they told they had achieved with the help of their sherpas. They often forget to mention their names.

That’s the point also for Nims. Being a Nepali, he understands the discrimination and is saddened by it. He wanted that recognition for Easterners, especially for the Nepalese, what they deserve. So, he planned this monumental task to achieve the impossible before any Westerner.

In that process, he faced suffering both physically and mentally. He had to left his job in the military, his ailing mother at the time when she needed him most, even had to remortgage his house to finance the project. But as a Gurkha, losing or giving up is not in his blood. With steel determination and indomitable enthusiasm and courage he, at last, achieved his goal.

In the prospect of making this documentary, also produced by Nims, is nothing new in terms of convention. It has the old techniques of interviews, stock footages and commentaries. But it is the story that needed to be told. And to understand the enormous effort behind this epic journey and the exhilarating dream of a madman, one should definitely watch this documentary.

What did you think of the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible ? Comment below.

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14 peaks: nothing is impossible, common sense media reviewers.

Language, physical risks in inspiring Nepali climber docu.

14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Don't be afraid to dream big, no matter your backg

Families support each other, despite differences a

Nims and his team of Nepali climbers aspire to vin

The climbers repeatedly risk their lives. Two clim

A couple is said to have been very young when they

"F--k," "damn," "hell," "bulls--t."

Lots of mountaineering and outdoor gear brands are

Some partying among climbers, where they drink alc

Positive Messages

Don't be afraid to dream big, no matter your background. There's power in positive thinking. Focus on the possible to make it happen. Face your fears with courage. Discipline pays off.

Positive Role Models

Families support each other, despite differences and hardships. Nims and his team embody courage and perseverance; they risk their lives to achieve their dreams and break world records. They suggest they're out there for something bigger than self glory. They never leave a teammate behind on the mountain, displaying their character. Nims embodies discipline, hard work, and courage. He suggests leaders must hide their weaknesses and show confidence.

Diverse Representations

Nims and his team of Nepali climbers aspire to vindicate the fundamental role of Sherpas in international mountaineering history. They suggest if they were Westerners or Europeans, their achievements would get a lot more media coverage. Nims says the mountain doesn't see or care about your race. They say they're attempting the death-defying climbs to inspire others and represent their country. We learn a few details about Nepali culture, including that the youngest son is expected to care for his family. We see a ceremony involving a mother and son painting a red substance on each other's foreheads.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

The climbers repeatedly risk their lives. Two climbers are left behind on a mountain; one dies and the other is rescued but is in serious condition. There's mention of a kid being "beaten daily" by a teacher. Elderly parents worry about their kids, have heart attacks, and die. A climber slides 100 meters down a hill and barely catches himself on a rope. A man suffers HACE (high altitude cerebral edema), which causes hallucinations and a loss of physical control. Some climbers criticize others for using oxygen. A gun battle is described where a man was shot and took a serious fall but survived. Some of the most violent scenes are animated, making them less scary.

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

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A couple is said to have been very young when they married. Two male bare bottoms are seen.

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

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

Products & Purchases

Lots of mountaineering and outdoor gear brands are seen. Nims goes viral on Instagram. Nims mortgages his house to pay for Project Possible.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Some partying among climbers, where they drink alcohol and someone is seen smoking. Discussion of a hangover.

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 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible is an at times nail-biting recounting of a team of Nepali mountain climbers attempting to break world summiting records. There are scenes of mountaineers left behind and dying or nearly dying, death-defying falls, and a depiction of HACE (high altitude cerebral edema), which causes hallucinations and a loss of physical control. Several of the most frightening experiences are animated, and the film overall has an upbeat tone of possibility and surmounting dangers rather than dwelling on or explicitly depicting them. The climbers aim to vindicate the role of Nepali Sherpas in climbing history, bringing their compatriots into a limelight traditionally occupied by Western climbers. The star appears almost superhuman in his discipline, physical abilities, and courage, which his team embodies equally. He's also devoted to his family, and especially his ailing mother and long-suffering wife. The climbers sometimes let loose and drink or smoke; one summits a peak with a hangover. Two male bare bottoms are seen from afar. Language includes "f--k," "damn," "hell," and "bulls--t." 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 (4)

Based on 4 parent reviews

Why has cursing in documentary become a norm now?

Nims dhaai you r the best , what's the story.

Nirmal "Nimsdai" Purja is a Nepali mountain climber and former UK Special Forces member who gives up his army job to embark on a never-before-achieved quest in 14 PEAKS: NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. Purja gathers a team of experienced Sherpas, trains, and fundraises for his "Project Possible," which aims to summit all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter mountains in under seven months, breaking the standing record of seven years. The film delves into the century of climbers attempting these treks, interviews world-renowned international climbers, tells Purja's personal story, and follows his team up and down mountains as they repeatedly risk their lives to meet their objective.

Is It Any Good?

If a documentary chronicling how an uncommonly charismatic, brave, and socially-conscious young man breaks six world records doesn't find an audience, there's something wrong. True, 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible might not immediately draw viewers without connection or interest in mountaineering. But its combination of life-or-death suspense, compelling back story, message of possibility, and gorgeous scenery prove captivating. Will the team of Nepali climbers reach their goal to summit 14 of the world's highest mountains in record time with no injuries or losses? Will the leader's beloved but ailing mother survive long enough to see her son's success?

The film bounces around in time to share leader Nims' backstory, including a devoted wife, a loving family, and an unparalleled drive, discipline, competitiveness, and physical prowess. Considering one of the film's key messages is fighting for recognition for overlooked Nepali climbers, it comes across as a little shallow that it dedicates so much time to Nims and almost none to the backgrounds of his other teammates who scale all the same mountains as him. But Nims is an undeniably appealing star, and his project gains from his online presence and likeability. His attachment and devotion to his mother are charming, and seeing her get flown in by helicopter in what looks like a fuzzy pink bathrobe to celebrate Nims' achievements is adorable. The film is dedicated to her, which seems just about right for the tale's message of aspiring to ever greater endeavors for reasons beyond self aggrandizement.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the community of mountaineers represented in 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible . Do they support one another, and how so? Do they critique each other?

Why does Nims suggest local mountain guides, known as Sherpas, have been too often overlooked in history? Where could you go for more information?

Where could you find out more about the mountains the "Project Possible" team climb and where they're located?

How do Nims and his team display courage and perseverance ? Did you ever feel they were being foolhardy in their ventures? How did those traits serve them -- and sometimes others?

Movie Details

On DVD or streaming : November 29, 2021
Cast : Nirmal Purja , Mingma David Sherpa , Lakpa Dendi Sherpa
Director : Torquil Jones
Studio : Netflix
Genre : Documentary
Topics : Sports and Martial Arts , Adventures , Friendship
Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance
Run time : 101 minutes
MPAA rating : NR
Last updated : February 17, 2023

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Review: '14 Peaks' Documentary About the Remarkable Nimsdai Purja

by Alex Billington November 29, 2021

This film was screened as part of the 2021 DOC NYC Film Festival. If you ask someone to name a famous Nepali person, they might be able to recall Tenzing Norgay. He was one of two mountain climbers (the other was New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary) to be the first ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. But ever since then, Nepalis have mostly remained in the shadow, as other climbers from around the world have marched their way into the Himalayas to make their mark and set new records. This all changes with 14 Peaks and the climber known as Nimsdai. 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible is an extraordinary, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring documentary experience about Nimsdai's remarkable achievement - climbing the 14 highest mountains in the world within 7 months. It's not about whether he could do this, it's all about the journey, as it always is, and how momentous this achievement is. Free Solo is a cinch compared to 14 Peaks .

Directed by filmmaker Torquil Jones , 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible is a thrilling, invigorating doc film about a Nepali climber named Nirmal Purja - best known by his other name Nimsdai (or just "Nims" as they call him throughout the film). After growing up in Kathmandu, he joined the British Special Forces and spent years training with and working for them. But then he decided to return home and focus on his own conutry – Nepal. After spending years honing his mountain climbing skills, he decides to pull off something impossible. Nimsdai puts together a team and plans to climb all of the 14 mountains over 8,000 m (26,247 ft) and summit each one of them within 7 months. The first person to achieve this was a German climber named Reinhold Messner - but it took him 16 years to do this. Nimsdai calls it "Project Possible", as a way of showing that anything humans think is impossible, can be possible with the right mindset and training. This is the epitome of inspiration, a grand adventure to encourage & inspire anyone to achieve the "impossible."

Watching Nimsai and his friends do this is OMFG astonishing. This film establishes an extremely important and iconic legacy for Nepal in the most breathtaking way. What Nims pulls off is an utterly extraordinary achievement in the history of adventure sports, even more awesome that it was all captured on camera with some of the most stunning mountain cinematography I have ever seen . There are moments in this that are so jaw-dropping I couldn't even contain myself, I was up and cheering for him. He is a hero in my eyes, no question about it. I would honestly say this is the second most important achievement in mountaineering in Nepal after Tenzing Norgay's original summit of Everest, and the film is completely right to compare and connect them. By the end I was thinking I am so glad that they made this as-perfect-as-it-can-be film about what he did, and had footage for every single part of it, so that the world can see with their own eyes what he achieves. How he made the impossible possible . And that he deserves, as do all Nepalis, the utmost respect.

This film sets a new high bar in terms of mountain filmmaking, along with the unbelievable accomplishment of climbing all 14 of these mountains in less than 7 months. He could die at any moment, and almost did, but kept going. And then turned around and helped other climbers on the verge of death. 14 Peaks is an instant all-time favorite doc along with Jennifer Peedom's film Sherpa , which changed my life, and I am so moved and humbled and inspired by everything I watched. It's even more exhilarating that 2021 has given us not one, but two, of the best mountain climbing movies ever made - 14 Peaks and The Summit of the Gods , an animated film from France about Japanese climbers. They are both reminders of how climbers are drawn to the mountains, how they must go on and never stop climbing, how they find peace in the clouds. But most of all this irrefutably establishes the epic legacy of Nimsdai, and his fellow climbers, as they show the world that Nepali climbers, born in the Himalayas, deserve to be as known & as revered as anyone else.

I will never forget how much my heart was racing watching this film. How it connected so deeply with me, and reminded me to be passionate and determined no matter what. I will always think of Nims from now on, and talk about him as a genuine hero. Nepal is a beautiful country, with wonderful people, and it's gratifying to see them get a chance to share this with us on camera in the most unforgettable of ways. Nimsdai forever.

Alex's Rating: 10 out of 10 Follow Alex on Twitter - @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd - @firstshowing

Find more posts: Documentaries , Review

I bet if sherpas regularly had the access, many of them could summit all the mountains like this guy. Sadly, it's mostly a job for them or at best a way to keep their home from being damaged.

DAVIDPD on Nov 29, 2021

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible’ on Netflix, The Story of One Man’s Quest To Conquer The World’s Greatest Peaks In Record Time

Where to stream:.

14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible

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For some people, climbing one of the world’s highest mountains is a lifetime’s achievement. For Nepali mountaineer Nirmal “Nims” Purja, subject of the new Netflix documentary film 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, climbing all of them is going to be one good season. Purja set out a goal—what he dubbed “Project Possible”—to climb all fourteen of the “Eight-Thousander” peaks (mountains taller than 8000 meters) in a single climbing season. Filmmaker Torquil Jones follows Purja in this quest, which, if successful, would mark the fastest the feat has ever been achieved.

14 PEAKS: NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: When legendary Italian climber Reinhold Messner became the first person to complete ascents of all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks—a feat he completed in 1986, it was a stunning accomplishment, the culminating of sixteen years of work. By 2019, the fastest it had ever been done was seven years. To accomplish the feat in a single season would have been unthinkable, but the spirit of mountaineering is to find the unthinkable and make it real. The climbing world wasn’t familiar with Nims Purja before, but if he pulled it off, he’d immediately become a legend in the field.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: It’s a pretty straightforward mountaineering adventure documentary, which is no knock on it—it’s got shades of Jennifer Peedom’s Sherpa or Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s excellent Meru .

Performance Worth Watching: There are cameo interviews from luminaries of the climbing world, including Reinhold Messner himself, but Purja is front, center, and sole star of this film; confident, calm, utterly possessed of a belief in his own success and in representing the Nepali climbing community on the world stage.

Memorable Dialogue: “Don’t be afraid to dream big. It doesn’t matter where you come from, you can show the world nothing is impossible.” Purja’s title-giving narration opens the film, and sets the tone for the whole death-defying adventure. “I was told that my project was impossible,” Purja notes, “so I named it Project Possible.”

Sex and Skin: None. It’s too cold up there for that! You’ll get frostbite!

Our Take: “Normally, for a single eight-thousander, it’s a major endeavor,” renowned climber Jimmy Chin notes early 14 Peaks . “It’s a huge, two-month expedition just to climb one 8,000-meter peak. But sometime in the spring of 2019, the mountaineering world started talking about this crazy guy from Nepal. He was someone that nobody had ever heard of. Everyone was asking, ‘Who the hell is Nims Purja?'”

A good portion of the screen time in 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible is dedicated to answering this question, and understanding the man is essential to understanding not just how such a remarkable feat could be possible, but why someone would deign to undertake it. Purja is a Nepali national and former member of the British Armed Forces who became the first Gurkha (a term for Nepalese soldiers in the British Army) selected for the British Special Forces. He’s a fearless and accomplished man who narrowly avoided combat death during his service, a moment memorably recreated in an animation within the larger film.

Purja isn’t just committed to making his own name known around the world—though he does plan on that. He’s also committed to advancing the cause of mountaineers from his home country, a place home to some of the world’s highest peaks that has long seen Western climbers dominate the headlines while relying on Nepali Sherpas to aid their own expeditions. He mortgages his home to fund the expedition, and assembles a team of his countrymen to support his quest, knowing that it will help them build their own climbing careers.

The challenges of conquering the 8,000ers in a single season extend beyond the climbing itself; the sheer logistics are mind-boggling, and the narrow time-frame allows little room for flexibility and occasionally forces sub-optimal attempts; bad weather forces Purja to climb Kanchenjunga—normally a four-day endeavor—in a single day, while hungover. He undertakes his season-long campaign without yet having received permission from the Chinese government to climb the Tibetan peak Shishapangma; if they refuse, completion will be out of his hands.

100 minutes might seem like a long run-time if you’re not an avid fan of climbing, but it moves briskly from peak to peak, with dramatic tension building as the season ticks along. It’s a thrilling adventure, even as a viewer.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The best outdoor documentaries can thrill you like you’ve been on the mountain yourself, without having to leave the comfort of your own couch, and 14 Peaks does just that.

“I’m doing some crazy stuff,” Purja laughs, standing atop one of his many summits.

Will you stream or skip the climbing documentary #14Peaks : Nothing Is Impossible on @netflix ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) December 1, 2021

Scott Hines is an architect, blogger and internet user who lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife, two young children, and a small, loud dog.

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14 peaks: why the reviews are so positive.

Netflix's new documentary film 14 Peaks has garnered widespread critical acclaim. Here's why the reviews for the mountain climbing film are so good.

Netflix’s 14 Peaks has received positive critical acclaim and other are a few reasons that reviews for the mountain climbing documentary have been so positive. In recent years there have been many successful documentary films following climbers, such as The Dawn Wall and The Alpinist , and 14 Peaks is no exception. Praise for the movie has only grown since it landed on the streaming platform at the end of November.

When looking at the best documentaries of the past decade, it seems audiences love to watch people achieve extraordinary feats, and this is the theme at the core of 14 Peaks . The movie follows mountaineer Nirmal Purja as he and his team attempt to summit the 14 highest peaks in the world, all above 8,000 meters, in under seven months. The record at the time was seven years. Facing avalanches, treacherous weather, near-death experiences, and political barriers, the documentary displays the gravity of their task. Filmed largely by the climbers themselves, and featuring interviews from Nirmal’s family, 14 Peaks details the seemingly impossible mission to break the world record.

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Critical reception for 14 Peaks has been positive, with its current rating on Rotten Tomatoes standing at 89%. Its potential to be one of the best documentaries of the past few years stems not just from the story it tells, but the recognition it gives to the local climbers who work on the peaks. Purja’s team is made up of fellow Nepalese mountaineers who he says deserve greater appreciation for the work they do to assist Western climbers. Reviews of the documentary have highlighted this educational element and noted that it is of great importance. There is praise not just for Purja’s feat as an individual, but the way he includes his team and the wider community in his journey. Some of these comments can be seen below:

Ready Steady Cut:

"The story of Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja and his unbeatable courage to dream big is as inspirational as it is exhilarating."

The Kathmandu Post :

"The documentary chronicles the nitty-gritty of the gruelling mission while also displaying some of the most enthralling landscapes that complement the northern fringes of Nepal—along with stunning vistas of the Karakoram in Pakistan."

The Hollywood Insider:

"As he explores the highs and lows of the sport, he adds a cultural depth and richness to the mountaineering genre that was greatly lacking."

The Guardian:

"The emotional tug-of-war between the greater glory and the greater good is what lies at the core of 14 Peaks."

"Purja isn’t just committed to making his own name known around the world—though he does plan on that. He’s also committed to advancing the cause of mountaineers from his home country, a place home to some of the world’s highest peaks that has long seen Western climbers dominate the headlines while relying on Nepali Sherpas to aid their own expeditions."

However, despite the positive feedback, 14 Peaks has been criticized for skimming over parts of the journey and appearing rushed in its storytelling. This is because, unlike other sports-minded documentaries that cover a short period of time, such as Michael Jordan's The Last Dance , it tries to show multiple summits in one movie. There are moments in the movie where Purja is faced with difficult, life-threatening decisions but these are only mentioned briefly to fit all 14 summit attempts into the running time. Some critical reviews suggest that the struggle of each of the climbs is lost as they are not depicted in detail. These concerns can be seen in the reviews below:

"There’s so much geographic territory to cover in 100 minutes that the peaks and their ascendancies can feel somewhat fleeting and interchangeable."

Roger Ebert:

"I wished for more information about the complicated negotiations with China, the particular challenges of each mountain, and how the team adapted to changing circumstances."

News 9 Live:

"The struggle is not explored as deeply as, say, the solo troubles of The Dawn Wall or Touching the Void, with every summit more or less becoming a milestone rather than a destination."

Ultimately, the criticisms of 14 Peaks are outweighed by the praise it has received from audiences and critics alike. Purja’s journey to prove anything is possible has meant he has achieved recognition, not only for himself but for the wider Nepalese climbing community. With widespread popularity for the movie growing, it seems the critical acclaim is set to continue.

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Movie Review: 14 Peaks – Nothing is Impossible

14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible is a new biographical sports documentary, which journeys with Nims Purja and Project Possible… a seemingly impossible mission to summit 14 of the world’s 8000m plus peaks. Scattered across Asia, the first climber to summit all 14 peaks was extraordinary Italian Alpine climber, Reinhold Messner, a feat that took 16 years to accomplish. Messner is the first man to summit Everest on his own without oxygen, a climbing style he embraces as a purist. This incredible achievement will live on with his name in the world of mountaineering and while he hasn’t become a household name as much as Sir Edmund Hillary, the living legend is testament to the endurance of the human spirit, summing up Purja’s historical achievement as a “unique statement in the history of mountaineers” worthy of all his respect.

What separates Purja from the pack is that his quest was set to be accomplished in the space of just 7 months in 2019 when the world was going a little crazy with the onset of the pandemic. Using oxygen support near the top, his climbing strategy is a team effort as opposed to Messner’s often solo and unaided expedition. This doesn’t take away from the accomplishment, which is full of dangers and pitfalls, requiring a great deal of hoop jumping just to be able to be in the position to even take a shot. Normally it would be a bucket list item and life’s dream for one person to summit any one of these 14 peaks… but to Purja it was a massive challenge he couldn’t resist. Jokingly referring to himself as Usain Bolt, the mountaineer’s chipper never-say-die attitude and fun sense of humour is as infectious as his mission is inspiring. While his Muhammad Ali type chirps are mostly tongue-in-cheek, he should be given the same status, doing what most of his seasoned peers deemed impossible.

Sir Edmund Hillary is credited with being the first man to summit the tallest mountain on the planet, Mount Everest. While his noteworthy climb will forever make him the Neil Armstrong of mountaineering, something must be said for his Buzz Aldrin… Tenzing Norgay. As Purja notes in this sleek documentary, climbing support teams and more specifically sherpas have become like ghosts with climbers relying wholeheartedly on these people who risk their lives in order to help them claim the flag-planting glory. Doing the hard yards, knowing the best routes and putting their bodies on the line, this noble and indispensable support structure hasn’t been properly acknowledged in the grand scheme of things.

Nims Purja’s film is centred on the achievement of reaching the summit of all 14 peaks with a commentary about the sport and far-reaching implications. Confronting the matter directly, it’s clear that there’s a massive disparity with many clear examples of the setbacks of not being a westerner. Trying to siphon sponsors and funding to do the near-impossible, Purja’s mission may have come across as pure lunacy to would-be investors, but you can’t help but imagine how much easier the process could’ve been if he was from Europe. Granted there are economic factors at play between pitching substantial projects at home and abroad, but the issue is further compounded by the lack of international media coverage for a dizzying accomplishment and history in the making.

“Look ma, made it… top of the world!”

While Nims is used to going against the odds, the fearless Nepalese climber never backs down from a challenge, having the time of his life in doing what he loves to honour his mother, wife and his country. This is pure inspiration, soaking up every moment and doing it in style. From challenging political rulings and putting his house and life on the line, Nims is the epitome of determination and will power. It’s what compels him to overcome, to keep on keeping on and it’s just the spirit we need to encourage us in such trying times in the aftermath of Covid-19. Reaching the peaks of such monoliths as Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Mount Everest, Lhotse and Makalu, K2, Cho Oyu, Manaslu and Shishapangma – this is the stuff of Lord of the Rings . Spectacular and otherworldly imagery peppers this quick-paced overview of Project Possible from footage, photographs and animated recreations.

From unexpected rescue attempts, near-death experiences and even queues of traffic going up Mount Everest… 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible tracks the perils of the sport, constantly reminding viewers how many have succumbed to the severe elements and lack of oxygen. This documentary touches on a number of issues relating to Purja’s personal life from his strong bond with his mother, his desire to give Nepal its rightful place in the climbing community to longstanding prejudices within the sport. Focused on climbing all 14 mountain peaks, which are represented as visualisations – as you’d expect the film moves at a breakneck speed in trying to condense so many summits. Snow and mountains in the region all start to look the same and while the conditions help distinguish them, you get the impression that biographical detail was deliberately interspersed to add more colour.

Nims narrates the film, providing a first-hand account of chronological events with interviews from peers chiming in about the conditions and their thoughts on this incredible historical attempt. It’s a jam-packed film that serves as an overarching overview of the man’s courage, determination and desires – offering a character portrait and human interest factor to spur things on. While it manages to check these boxes moving at a pace and carrying enough infotainment to keep you transfixed, something gets lost in translation. There are documentaries that chart one single summit and while 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible dwarfs them, something is lost in conveying the grueling challenge – failing to capture the extraordinary pursuit of just reaching the summit of one. Unfortunately, this undermines the act of climbing 8,000m + mountains, making it seem so much easier than it actually is with graphics that diminish the giants.

We see Nims often commentating from the top of these mountains but without giving each summit its dues, it turns each standalone achievement into a hop, skip and jump. Perhaps immersing us in the conditions where survival becomes the watchword would’ve helped entrench the marvel of Purja and his team’s efforts. Writer-director Torquil Jones had his own mountain to climb, probably inundated with enough footage to turn the documentary into a series, required to hit certain story milestones along the way. As it stands, 14 Peaks is still a joy to watch from seeing Purja dancing and striving to witnessing more personal fly-on-the-wall moments. A testament to a historical feat with many records broken along the way, it’s an ode to the power of sheer will power, bravery and stubborn determination.

The bottom line: Awe-inspiring

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Nirmal Purja: ‘It’s about achieving the impossible in life’

14 Peaks: the quest to climb the world’s highest mountains in less than a year

A new Netflix documentary chronicles the lengths Nirmal Purja went to as he attempted to break one of mountaineering’s toughest records

Another mountaineer might have scoffed. They might have raised a frostbitten thumb over their pack-strapped shoulder at the 8,000m peak in the distance and the set of tracks winding down from its snow-capped pinnacle to their soggy boots and huffed, Can I at least catch my breath ? They might have waved off the notion of venturing back to that frozen hellhole to rescue a stranded climber, who doubtless would have been alert to the myriad risks of scaling the world’s 10th-highest point. On top of all that Nirmal Purja had other mountains to climb – and the clock was ticking. Loudly.

But Purja, who goes by Nims for short, isn’t built like the rest of us. For a start, there’s something deep within him that simply won’t countenance the idea of leaving a person in peril. So even though a fresh cresting of Annapurna I , the giant in the Himalayan massif with a notoriously deadly legacy, had wrung him out physically and psychically, Nims was dutifully airlifted back up the peak with his crack team of Sherpas. As the pitch dark night and bitter wind pushed the already freezing temperatures even lower, Nims and his teammates had to slap themselves to stay awake to finish the mission in time for the next helicopter pass – which they made with five minutes to spare.

That stranded climber would have been unlikely to survive if Nims hadn’t been on that ridge, too. But Nims doesn’t make a big deal out of his no-man-left-behind ethos. Mostly, he shrugs. “If I don’t apply that in my civilian stuff, whatever I’m doing, then I don’t think I’m moving forward,” he tells the Guardian from Kathmandu.

The emotional tug-of-war between the greater glory and the greater good is what lies at the core of 14 Peaks – the recently released Netflix documentary chronicling Nims’ attempt to summit the world’s 14 highest peaks (all of which stand 8,000m or higher) in seven months during 2019. For context, the previous record was seven years , and among the first men to set it was Reinhold Messner – easily one of the most accomplished explorers in recent history.

At first this expedition – dubbed Project Possible – doesn’t just sound ludicrous; it feels way too big for Nims, a relative newcomer to mountaineering whose hard-partying, Instagram-influencing reputation would seem at odds with the gravity of his goal. But through the skillful direction of director Torquil Jones, who was behind the exhaustive doc on England manager Bobby Robson, we quickly learn that Nims is no social climber. Rather, the 38-year-old from Nepal is a military veteran with a glittering career as a Gurkha (beginning at 18) and in the Special Boat Service . In December 2012, while on leave, he fell in love with climbing during a trek to Everest base camp, twisting his guide’s arm (figuratively, we think) until he helped him summit the 6,119m Lobuche East peak .

Nirmal Purja after a historic scaling of K2 in the winter season

That was the beginning of a career built to topple climbing records. But Nims, a self-styled “Usain Bolt of peaks” known to set climbing records hungover, isn’t only looking to distinguish himself. He’s equally driven to win recognition for Nepalese Sherpas, who have operated too long and too faithfully in the shadow of the white western mountaineers reaching for immortality.

It hardly spoils 14 Peaks to reveal that, despite his rarified perch in the mountaineering world, even Nims gets used. “I would be at the front with my team setting fixed lines, carrying probably 30-35 kg, trailblazing around in waist-deep snow at the death zone, and some either European or western climber with nothing to carry would just, like, follow behind,” Nims says. “And at the end, they wouldn’t even say thank you. They wouldn’t even speak openly in their social media about it. And I think if people could do that to me, imagine what they could do to someone older or uneducated?”

The thing that shines through over the course of 14 Peak’s 99 minutes is the smile with which Nims greets rudeness and roadblocks. When his fundraising campaign for Project Possible dead-ends, he takes out a second mortgage on his house – then hits the jackpot when his photo of a traffic jam of climbers on Mount Everest goes viral and lands on the front page of the New York Times. When he trundles into the defeated camp at the base of K2, where other climbers commiserated over their failed attempts to summit the 10th peak on Project Possible’s to-do list, he blazed an apogee trail for everyone else to follow. When China initially denied him access to Shishapangma , the last peak on the list, Nims brought down that great bureaucratic wall by appealing directly to the Nepalese government and bombarding their Chinese counterparts with glowing recommendation letters.

Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja at the summit of the 8,035m Gasherbrum II

All the while in the background, he reckoned with strife at home (his anxious wife, his ailing mother, an angry older brother who resented his decision to leave the military to chase this fever dream) and that other giant peak – the ever-growing mountain of sponsorship obligations. And then of course there was the documentary shoot he was actively producing, an added responsibility that should justify his decision to scale those peaks under the assistance of oxygen – a point of contention in the climbing community. “In the whole of this project, climbing was the easiest thing I have done,” he says.

You don’t have to be a mountaineering enthusiast to enjoy 14 Peaks. The extreme force of Nims’s infectious personality makes that easy enough. But what’s likely to have you returning to the film time and again is the warmth at the heart of Nims’s Mother Abbess-like mission , a testament to the levels a person can ascend if they don’t let negativity stand in the way of their big dreams.

“It’s about achieving the impossible in life,” says Nims, who went from growing up poor and watching TV through his neighbors’ windows to starring and producing “one of the biggest mountaineering films in the world … that has been translated into 31 different languages. So, you know, you don’t need to go to film school and all that stuff to create this. You just need to have a vision.”

All the same, 14 Peaks will be tough to top.

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‘14 Peaks: Nothing is impossible’ review

Pasang Dorjee

A few weeks ago, I was swiping mindlessly past Instagram stories of friends and families as usual. Few seconds into the app and something instantly stood out that particular day; virtually every one of my Instagram friends was sharing the same post on their story. ‘14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible’, the post read; a new netflix documentary was set to release on the 29th of November. I immediately recognised the Instagram handle, ‘nimsdai’, on one of the stories and opened the post to read its caption for details. Prior to checking his Instagram, I had minute information about who ‘nimsdai’ was; I did know that he was a mountaineer, and his growing social media presence was another conspicuous aspect about him. Fast forward a month later and after much anticipation, the documentary was finally here—and the expected online buzz accompanied its release.

Directed by Torquil Jones, ‘14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible’ is a documentary about a fearless mountaineer, Nirmal Purja (popularly known as Nimsdai), and his seemingly unattainable quest to summit all fourteen of the world’s 8000-metre peaks in seven months. Embarking on this daunting adventure, Nimsdai wants to take an all-Nepali group to the top of those fourteen peaks; a feat previously undertaken in eight years; Nimsdai, however, completes it in six months and six days—all the while breaking six mountaineering records. The documentary underscores not only the insurmountable challenge that the team undertook in those difficult terrains, but also the physical, mental, and financial hurdles that this mission entailed.

“Giving up is not in the blood, sir. It’s not in the blood”, says Nimsdai, and boy does he embody those words through the course of his expeditions. The documentary, with its runtime of 109 minutes, poses us with the most human element of all via its depiction of man’s confrontation between life and death. There is almost an existential feel to it; to picture oneself in the mountaineer’s shoes amidst the vastness of those precarious snowy terrains. It’s a terrifying yet exhilarating feeling to visualise yourself coming face to face with your own mortality; that feeling lingers even after you have finished watching the documentary. And that is what makes it inspiring tenfold, as we witness Nimsdai representing not only a Nepali mountaineer’s capability and strength, but a human being’s valour in the face of such insuperable odds. Nimsdai himself constantly echoes the point of his mission being to push the limits of—not only a mountaineer’s fortitude—but that of our species itself. Climbing any of the mountains is typically a two month project, according to experts. However, with his grit, generosity of spirit, charisma and sheer willpower, Nimsdai spearheads the task successfully within a relatively short span of time.

The documentary chronicles the nitty-gritty of the gruelling mission while also displaying some of the most enthralling landscapes that complement the northern fringes of Nepal—along with stunning vistas of the Karakoram in Pakistan. Viewers are bound to be captivated by the visuals, primarily with POV (point of view) shots of dangerous trails that offer us a vicarious thrill. For those who would not dare to attempt to summit those peaks will be granted an opportunity to see what the top of the world looks like. One of the most commendable aspects of the film is its documentation of Nimsdai’s personal narrative whilst concurrently addressing his mountaineering endeavours. It bounces back and forth between the two, juxtaposing his humble background with his not-so-humble ambitions. The “crazy guy” that is Nimsdai and his resolve towards his goals is built upon the foundation that is his family and fellow mountaineer friends; they are his fuel. Serving in the British military for more than a decade is another defining factor in moulding the man he is today, as he credits that career for teaching him “discipline, humility, and respect”. Suchi Purja, the wife of Nimsdai, also plays a crucial role in the show’s narration; it is she who accentuates the storytelling by delivering a truly personal touch to the documentary.

The creators of the show have done a brilliant job in using animation to show us parts of the expedition that weren’t possible to film. From Nimsdai’s terrifying hundred metres fall downhill during one of the summits to the moment where he experiences High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE), as well as the scene where he was nearly shot during one of his Special Forces missions; the portrayal of those horrific incidents were immaculate through the use of skillful animation. What is most noteworthy about the documentary is that, while it certainly revolves around Nimsdai’s individual story, it also does justice to the people involved in the expeditions by providing viewers with ample insight into them, as well as how the entire operation was carried out—although some viewers digress, claiming that phase two and three of the expedition were not given equal screen time.

“I was told that my project was impossible. So I decided to name it ‘Project: Possible’,” says Nimsdai. If there is anything the documentary significantly spotlighted, it was Nimsdai’s aim to garner the respect that Nepali mountaineers rightfully deserve. “The climbing community of Nepal have always been the pioneers of the eight-thousanders but they never got the respect they deserve. I want to represent the Nepali climbing community.” There is, nonetheless, one slight reservation that I have: the documentary could have stressed on how the term “Sherpa” is often universally misunderstood. ‘Sherpa’ translates to “people of the east”, referring to their geographical origin of eastern Tibet. Thus, reducing it to an occupation is blatantly dismissive of an entire ethnicity. This is especially rampant in the Western mainstream and given that the show is produced by Western filmmakers along with the level of reach that Netflix has, this could have been clarified for viewers globally. The Sherpa community has historically been integral to Nepal’s mountaineering industry, so to acknowledge this vital information would have been more than warranted.

Although Nimsdai expresses his dissent over climbers saying “My Sherpa helped me”—to emphasise on how their individual name should be on the forefront or else they would be akin to “ghosts”—the documentary simply glossed over what the term “Sherpa” actually even means. The distinction should have been made that the word “Sherpa” is not analogous to a trekking guide, nor is it some slang for climbing supporters—it has its own meaning which shouldn’t be erased. “Let’s be brutally honest. If this was done by some European or Western climbers, the news would have been ten times bigger than this,” says Nimsdai, addressing the barrage of reporters upon his arrival at the airport after completing his mission. Bringing this vital issue into the limelight was perhaps one of the key takeaways, as the domestic mountaineers are severely undercredited which Nimsdai himself echoes consistently.

The documentary delivers the kind of story that is truly one for the history books. As an audience, I found myself fully engrossed in the visuals, the storytelling, and the overall production of the film. To be awestruck by the wonders that lie within your own country is a uniquely mesmerising feeling. But as another human being, I found myself in complete awe of the sheer amount of courage, perseverance, and tenacity exemplified by Nimsdai. His story is one that will transcend the mountaineering industry, ignite the fighting spirit of people within and beyond our borders, and create ripples across the collective consciousness.

Pasang Dorjee Pasang Dorjee is a Culture and Arts reporter for The Kathmandu Post.

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14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible Review : An awe-inspiring story of a man’s quest to achieve the impossible

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Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive . Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.

Nihal Basnet 70155 829 days ago

Only three stars by the critics??? What else they wanted?? This isn't a Bollywood movie... Next time the critics should try climbing at least a hill and experience.

justicbeginstoberuledoneday 871 days ago

This series more than series<br/>Its like more emotional like normal boy who dreams to make his country dream now most of people run for Money pleasure happiness , but in here nim,nirmal purja search happiness in mountain which make him extremely true legend

zollanchetry 875 days ago

Masterpiece ..

so Inspirational and it teaches us Noting is impossible ..we need focus on our goals ..lover it

Gyanendra Swar 184 875 days ago

Based on reality ! Life to death .

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Review: Elisabeth Moss stars as a spy gone rogue in FX’s thriller ‘The Veil’

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Elisabeth Moss has acted in more projects than you can remember for more years than you might guess, but it was “Mad Men” in 2007 that made her the reason to watch a show — an impression cemented by “ Top of the Lake” and taken for granted by the time of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

She’s a fierce presence; even when playing powerlessness, she radiates intensity. In “The Veil,” created by Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders”) and premiering Tuesday on Hulu, the camera makes a habit of looking straight at her face, submitting you to her penetrating gaze.

Moss plays MI6 agent Imogen Salter, which we understand immediately is just her latest nom d’espionnage . (The actor’s father was British, so she comes by the accent half honestly.) She turns up incognito at a snowy U.N. refugee camp at the Syrian-Turkish border, where a young woman, Adilah El Idrissi (Yumna Marwan), has been taken into protective custody after having nearly been lynched by a mob that believes her to be Sabaine al Kubaisi, an upper-level Islamic State commander, “the most wanted woman in the world.”

**DO NOT USE PRIOR TO 8/16/2018 FOR THE ENVELOPE EDITION*** BEVERLY HILLS, CA., JUNE 7, 2018--The Handmaid’s Tale Elisabeth Moss May Be Oppressed on Screen, but Behind the Scenes She’s in Control. The star of Hulu's acclaimed drama explained how being an executive producer gave her the ability to not just speak out for herself, but her fellow actors. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Elisabeth Moss takes on a new role in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

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Imogen has come to the camp to find out what Adilah, or Sabaine, might know about a rumored big terrorist attack on a Western target, and spirits her away. Owing in no small part to Marwan’s deep soulfulness, our sympathy at first runs to Adilah, a lone, broken figure hoping only to get back to her 10-year-old daughter in Paris.

She at least seems to be telling the truth, whereas Imogen, who represents powerful government institutions, professionally lies all the time — though we’re kept uncertain just how much to believe what either says. “Even though we’re lying to each other, I feel like I’ve been more honest with her than most people,” Imogen will tell French agent Malik Amar (Dali Benssalah), her contact and more-or-less boyfriend, in regard to Adilah.

Two women standing face to face in a snowy field.

Imogen can seem a little mad; she has a habit of smiling at odd times, making it difficult to know exactly what’s going on in there. We can infer from her smoking and drinking that she’s an unsettled sort of person, and we’re fed morsels of an origin story to suggest unresolved trauma, which seems engineered to parallel Adilah‘s but will obviously be assembled further down the line.

In the end — near the beginning, actually — Imogen will go rogue, setting herself against her superiors and protecting (and interrogating) Adilah as they travel from Syria to Istanbul to Paris and England, their way obstructed by terrorist proxies and warring intelligence agencies.

It’s a road movie, basically, one of those in which strangers thrown together become less strange to one another. As a spy story, it’s a decent example of its kind, but as a dramatic two-hander, fueled by subtle performances from Moss and Marwan, it’s pretty terrific.

Josh Charles plays CIA agent Max Peterson, a caricature of U.S. bluster, impatience, self-approval and Francophobia, sent to Paris to hijack the investigation from French intelligence. (Imogen is on loan to them, being the absolute best at what she does; British intelligence doesn’t enter the picture.)

Described by Malik’s superior, Magritte (the august Thibault de Montalembert, who recently provided similar service in “Franklin”), as “the most American American America has ever produced,” Max isn’t out of the airport before he’s actually tussling with Malik. Their butting-stags competitive relationship is as close to comic relief as “The Veil” will come.

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Terrorism, as depicted onscreen, is a tired and tricky theme, subject to cultural stereotype. Accordingly, Knight has left the composition of his malefactors — not even ISIS (that is, Islamic State) but “a breakaway ISIS cell,” a marginal marginal group — a little vague, and painted sides in a variety of ethnicities. (One notes that both Adilah and Malik are French Algerian.) But terrorism is a device here, not a subject.

Though its premise makes it unavoidably political, “The Veil” is only, one might say, incidentally so, no more interested in actual geopolitics or ideology than “Ronin,” which the Paris locations bring to mind, or “The 39 Steps.” This strikes me as its strength; in terms of storytelling, the death of hundreds, thousands, millions or billions is merely a tool, a sensational, meaningless abstraction — as it can be in life, sadly. We’ve seen the world or significant portions thereof destroyed onscreen so often that apocalypse has become an empty cliche, nothing more than a vehicle for expensive effects and cheap thrills. But the tearing of a single friendship can break your heart.

If it’s not always clear in the moment who is shooting at whom or why, whenever the script ignites a fight or a gunfight or a chase or an escape, there’s no question whom to root for — both Imogen and Adilah. Asked to choose between them, one simply suspends judgment, hoping, as with any troubled couple, that things will work out well. Though all six episodes were sent to reviewers, only the first four were allowed to be reviewed, so you will have to see and decide for yourself.

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14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible movie review (2021)
Only a handful of people have climbed all 14 of the 8,000-meter mountains. The first was Reinhold Messner, and it took him 16 years to do them all. Purja decided he would do it in seven months. Usually, one of this documentary's experts tells us, any of these mountains is a two-month project. Aside from the almost unthinkable challenge each ...
'14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible' Review: Climbing at a Breakneck Pace
Touched on in the Oscar winner "Free Solo" and summer's "The Alpinist," those relationships get screen time in "14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible," about the Nepalese climber Nirmal ...
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible
Dec 2, 2021. 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible explores Nepal's deep connection to high-altitude mountaineering through the eyes of Nirmal "Nimsdai" Purja, a fearless, fun-loving Nepali climber on a ...
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (2021)
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible: Directed by Torquil Jones. With Nirmal Purja, Suchi Purja, Klára Kolouchová, Reinhold Messner. Fearless Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja embarks on a seemingly impossible quest to summit all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks in seven months.
Review: '14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible' rises above the clouds
Nov. 29, 2021 2:24 PM PT. "Don't be afraid to dream big," says Nepali mountaineer Nirmal "Nims" Purja at the start of the arresting documentary "14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible ...
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible
Full Review | Dec 1, 2021. Jennifer Green Common Sense Media. "14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible" might not immediately draw viewers without connection or interest in mountaineering. But its ...
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (2021)
"14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible" (2021 release; 101 min.) is a documentary about a Nepal mountaineer's seemingly impossible attempt to summit the earth's 14 mountains that are higher than 8000 meters, all in a single season (April through October, 2019). "Don't be afraid to dream big", reflects Nirmal Purja, the man at issue.
14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible review
3. Summary. 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible is a typical documentary, but this time the success story of the impossible dream of a madman is important to tell. This review of the Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible does not contain spoilers. "Sometimes, the idea that you come up with may seem impossible to the rest of the ...
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible
Read More. By Andrew Crump FULL REVIEW. See All 4 Critic Reviews. 10. yuvvrz. Nov 29, 2021. The movie is inspiring, to say the least. Revolving around the deterministic character of an ex-Gurkha solider, he has found a second life in mountaineering after a close-call with death in the battlefield, and he wants to give credit to the Sherpas of ...
Review: 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible tells the gripping story of a Nepali mountain climber who summited the world's 14 highest mountains in just seven months. The film is executive produced by documentary power duo Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, whose 2018 Academy Award-winning Free Solo has led to a renaissance of documentaries centered around extreme mountain climbing.
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible Movie Review
Parents need to know that 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible is an at times nail-biting recounting of a team of Nepali mountain climbers attempting to break world summiting records. There are scenes of mountaineers left behind and dying or nearly dying, death-defying falls, and a depiction of HACE (high altitude….
Review: '14 Peaks' Documentary About the Remarkable Nimsdai Purja
This film sets a new high bar in terms of mountain filmmaking, along with the unbelievable accomplishment of climbing all 14 of these mountains in less than 7 months. He could die at any moment ...
'14 Peaks' Netflix Review: Stream It or Skip It?
The Gist: When legendary Italian climber Reinhold Messner became the first person to complete ascents of all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks—a feat he completed in 1986, it was a stunning ...
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible is a 2021 documentary film directed by Torquil Jones, and produced by Noah Media Group, Little Monster Films and Torquil Jones with Nirmal Purja, Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Vasarhelyi as executive producers. The film follows Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja and his team as they attempt to climb all 14 eight-thousander peaks within a record time of under seven months.
14 Peaks: Why The Reviews Are So Positive
Netflix's 14 Peaks has received positive critical acclaim and other are a few reasons that reviews for the mountain climbing documentary have been so positive. In recent years there have been many successful documentary films following climbers, such as The Dawn Wall and The Alpinist, and 14 Peaks is no exception. Praise for the movie has only grown since it landed on the streaming platform ...
Movie Review: 14 Peaks
14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible is a new biographical sports documentary, which journeys with Nims Purja and Project Possible… a seemingly impossible mission to summit 14 of the world's 8000m plus peaks. Scattered across Asia, the first climber to summit all 14 peaks was extraordinary Italian Alpine climber, Reinhold Messner, a feat that took 16 years to accomplish.
'14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible' review: An extraordinary story of
Tamma Moksha. The 101-minute long documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, directed by Torquil Jones, opens with mountaineer Nirmal Purja asking us to not be afraid to dream big as he walks in ...
14 Peaks: the quest to climb the world's highest mountains in less than
The emotional tug-of-war between the greater glory and the greater good is what lies at the core of 14 Peaks - the recently released Netflix documentary chronicling Nims' attempt to summit the ...
'14 Peaks: Nothing is impossible' review
Movies '14 Peaks: Nothing is impossible' review Directed by Torquil Jones, the documentary is about mountaineer Nirmal Purja (popularly known as Nimsdai), and his quest to summit all fourteen of the world's 8000-metre peaks in seven months.
14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible
Much of 14 Peaks is jammed into 101 minutes, which can be disorienting at times, but this is a story of perseverance with some unparalleled footage along the way that is worth watching. 14 Peaks uses flashbacks to create backstory and build character. Jones fleshes out our protagonist to build a connection: we care whether he lives or dies ...
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible Review
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible Review : An awe-inspiring story of a man's quest to achieve the impossible Abhishek Srivastava, TNN, Nov 30, 2021, 06.11 PM IST Critic's Rating: 3.0 /5
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible
Fearless Nepali mountaineer Nimsdai Purja embarks on a seemingly impossible quest to summit all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks in seven months.SUBSCRIBE...
'The Veil' review: Elisabeth Moss is a spy gone rogue
In FX's "The Veil," premiering Tuesday on Hulu, Elisabeth Moss stars as an MI6 agent who encounters a woman believed to be an Islamic State leader.

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