<em>Free Solo</em> Is a Staggering Documentary About Extreme Climbing
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s film follows Alex Honnold as he attempts to summit El Capitan without ropes or safety harnesses.
Alex Honnold, the subject of , is a man given to extreme focus, obsessive drive, and a highly spartan lifestyle, meaning he lives out of a van and mostly eats cans of beans warmed on a hot plate. His personality matches his ascetic lifestyle; Honnold doesn’t talk much and is prone to bluntness when he does speak. But though he might appear monklike, Honnold is quite the opposite. He’s a thrill seeker of the highest
