The Ascent follows amputee Mandy Horvath’s attempt to crawl to the summit of Kilimanjaro, cutting back and forth between her journey up the mountain and her life journey.
Mandy lost her legs in 2014 through a horrible situation revealed in the movie. She was living a wild lifestyle in the midwest with drinking and drugs, and after a confrontation with assumed friends she was seemingly drugged and left in a position that nearly killed her. Or I suppose it did in fact kill her – her heart stopped three times, twice on the way to the hospital and once on the surgery table, but she ended up surviving the ordeal. It was truly harrowing with no closure, and most of the movie is an examination of one way she processes the trauma.
The Ascent focuses on the part of her life journey where she uses summiting peaks as a goal to focus on, externalizing her pain into something positive. She starts with crawling up the Manitou Steps, then does Pikes Peak, and the movie looks at her ambition and the circuitous path to eventually attempting Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro is a serious undertaking, with people dying every month on their summit attempts. Mandy plans and preps her attempt for over a year: working out, doing smaller hikes, and getting ready both mentally and physically for the grueling ascent.
Early in the movie there’s a moment where she’s hiking and quips “Get the fuck away from me” when offered help, which is a good summary of her personality – the stubborn independence of someone who is willing to suffer immensely to meet their goals. She’s a unique documentary subject as her personality lends itself to the drama that unfolds.
The Ascent ends up splitting its focus, with half of its runtime about the summit attempt (the logistics of the endeavor and her perseverance), with the other half feeling like an almost true crime documentary about her past and the incident that led to her amputation. The latter worked better for me than the former – some of the summit attempt feels forced and never fully addresses her feelings regarding the logistics and assistance she gets. That said, there’s a moment of dancing and celebration that is undeniable and nails why you watch outdoor documentaries like this: the power of the human spirit.
Mandy is an fascinating person and the filmmakers communicate that effectively enough, I just wish I felt more of an emotional catharsis by the end, or that the documentary reached in its ambition more (much like Mandy does). Regardless of how you might feel about the film’s technical quality, Mandy’s story is incredible and worth learning about.
