Torn

Max Lowe's 2021 documentary is about the family of the climber Alex Lowe, buried by an avalanche on Shishapangma in 1999. Conrad Anker, his closest friend and climbing partner, survived the accident; he later married Alex's widow and raised his three sons. The film was made by the eldest son, which turns it into a family reckoning: Max speaks openly for the first time about what putting a stepfather in his father's place did to him. Alex's body was found on the melted glacier in 2016, and the film closes with that journey. It is emotionally very heavy and the tension within the family is not hidden. Who it's for: viewers interested in mountaineering documentaries and family portraits. Who it's not for: anyone avoiding the subject of grief and death, or wanting a detached account.