Like me, you may be aware of certain historical stories but never truly know the deeper story, despite being intrigued by such circumstances. With this new National Geographic documentary, get prepared to head out on an engrossing and genuinely fascinating real-life story of exploration, unlike anything that would seemingly happen today, as we set sail through the treacherous icy waters of the Antarctic coast in Endurance.

From directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (both directors on the stellar Free Solo) and Natalie Hewit (excellent Horizon doc Antarctica: Ice Station Rescue), Endurance is a unique documentary that charters two stories, that of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s troubled and unbelievably captivating feat of survival and determination 107 years ago – keeping his crew of 27 men alive for nearly 2 years despite losing their ship (the Endurance) in the frozen seas. And, alongside this, we also bear witness to the modern-day pioneers, who in 2022,  try to locate the original ship that’s been lost somewhere at the bottom of the unforgiving Ocean.  

The modern expedition is Endurance22, a vast team of experts who travel to the same area where Ernest Shackleton’s team last left their coordinates, in their diaries that were later discovered, onboard modern ship the S.A. Agulhas II, which enables them to use up-to-date technology to try and locate the Endurance somewhere on the bed of the Weddell Sea. Those specialists are expedition Leader Dr John Shears, subsea manager Nico Vincent, director of exploration (& historical discovery addict) Mensun Bound, as well as Senior Surveyor Maeva Onde, plus even a little bit of UK TV historian and broadcaster Dan Snow, all hoping to find that original ship all this time later.

Compelling fascinating from start to finish, the Endurance documentary takes on a mix of original photography and footage from Frank Hurley, a remarkable member of Shackleton’s team who quite literally pulled the negatives from the sinking ship to offer this first-hand visual account (and has an incredible history in photography), alongside studio recreated scenes that look so realistic it’s easy to believe, as they blend into one another – even if your logical brain knows it wouldn’t have been filmed to his extent. Yet, the thing is, that element also doesn’t distract from the overall storytelling which is so unexpectedly inspiring you’re happy to embed.  

The film also utilises AI in a positive way, and I’m not always a fan, but in this setup they’ve taken the actual voices of Shackleton and six of his crew, from original audio sources, and enabled that system to ‘read’ their diary entries as voiceover. This also work so impressively, you don’t even question it either, which adds a further reality to the exposed situations – which never lose potency, as we learn of shocking facts and details from the 1914 exhibition, virtually stepping inside the world of Shackleton and his crew, during those extreme frozen-bound situations.

We actually spoke to Alex Serdiuk, CEO and co-founder of Respeecher, about that process as well, and they shared insights into Respeecher’s role in bringing history to life through the Endurance documentary:

“At Respeecher, we’re thrilled to see our technology bring history to life in the ‘Endurance’ documentary. We had the extraordinary chance to work with audio recordings dating back over a century—delicate and demanding material that surely needs to be treated with care. Recreating the voices of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew, the goal was to preserve the unique tones and nuances of the voice, so it required not just advanced AI but the skill and ingenuity of our team. It’s an honor to contribute to storytelling in a way that respects and amplifies the legacy of these remarkable individuals.”

I also relished being educated on how the company of men came together in the first place, sure they had people suitable for the journey, but he literally put an ad in the paper for people to join him, and then assembled the group from there, which is incredible, not forgetting all the dogs they took along, plus a cat – by the way. This is important to mention because the film never forgets the human element of focused leadership from Shackleton, and how he genuinely cared for his crew’s welfare, even in the darkest, deadliest times, and how the very basics of routines, plans and patterns can go a long way to help keep another human being going.

So, while I certainly immersed in the past, the directors also juxtapose that survival story with the ‘now’ world of Endurance22, and track not only their previous failures to find the original Endurance ship in the deep icy environments, but individual, personal stories from the people today on their own exploration missions – with an equal measure of obsession and commitment, much like Shackleton showed in his time. These two elements give us the reality of the entire setup and make the comment that even over 100 years later, the desire for exploration and discovery continues to thrive.

Like the banjo that found its way through this extraordinary Shackleton expedition, this documentary is “vital mental medicine” even when breaking through the irresistible strength of the ice, discovering the life of a self-made rogue who places his name in history forever more, and not even for the victory of the original plan, which wasn’t achieved, but for the obligation he made to his people and the pure endeavour of the entire situation.

Absorbing, revealing and brutally real when it needs to be, as was the real-life journey, it even fosters an unexpectedly emotive reaction in an astonishing story for both parties, past and present.

Endurance is in UK cinemas from National Geographic, and on the Nat Geo channel, as well as Disney+ now