Genre Animation

The Summit of the Gods (2021)

Item: The Summit of the Gods
Rating: 3.0
Author: Ross McLaren

★★★ — The Summit of the Gods (2021)

There are moments in The Summit of the Gods where I just stopped thinking about the story and stared. The mountain sequences in particular are something else: vast, cold, terrifyingly beautiful, rendered in an art style that feels less like animation and more like a living watercolour that someone forgot to stop moving. It's the kind of film where you find yourself leaning forward not because of what's about to happen in the plot, but because you want to see what the next frame looks like. On a purely visual level, this is one of the most impressive animated features I've encountered in years.

The score matches it too. Haunting, spare, atmospheric. It sits under the film like a layer of ice, always present, always a little unsettling. Technically, this thing is a marvel. I'll give it that without hesitation.

But here's the thing. The story moves at the pace of an actual Everest ascent, and not in a way that always serves the film well. It's deeply, almost single-mindedly focused on mountaineering lore, the psychology of obsession, questions of legacy, and what it means to pursue something past the point of reason. All of that is genuinely interesting territory. If you're already fascinated by the history of high-altitude climbing, by figures like Mallory and Irvine and the unanswered questions that surround them, you'll probably find this gripping in a slow-burn, contemplative sort of way. If you're not, and I'll be honest that I arrived somewhere in between, it can start to feel like a very long haul with no real payoff waiting at the top.

I've enjoyed other animated films that take their time and trust the audience. Josep does something similar, using a restrained, hand-drawn aesthetic to carry a story that's more concerned with memory and moral weight than with dramatic incident. That one worked for me. This one works in patches. The difference, I think, is that Josep earns its quietness through emotional clarity, whereas The Summit of the Gods sometimes disappears into its own atmosphere.

The ambiguity at the heart of the film is both its most interesting quality and its most frustrating one. Did Mallory reach the summit? Did Irvine? We don't know, and we never will, and the film leans into that uncertainty with a kind of philosophical shrug. I understand the artistic intent there. The mystery is the point. The obsession with a question that has no answer is exactly what the film is about. I get it. But I also can't pretend I don't find that genuinely unsatisfying as a viewing experience. I really do hate an ending that leaves you with nothing to hold onto. Not every film needs a tidy resolution, but there's a difference between meaningful ambiguity and just stopping.

So where does that leave me? Somewhere complicated. This is a film I admired more than I enjoyed, and I'm not entirely sure I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't already have a passing interest in mountaineering history or a high tolerance for meditative pacing. But I'd never tell someone not to watch it either, because those visuals alone are worth something. It's gorgeous, thoughtful, and full of atmosphere. It just doesn't always grip.

Three stars.

Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2021 | Watched: 2025-07-13

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon US

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