Finding Michael, Disney+, review: Spencer Matthews searches for ...

In 1999, 22-year-old Michael Matthews became the youngest ever Briton to reach the peak of Mount Everest. But on his descent, marred by snow and incredibly fast winds, his guide lost sight of him, and Matthews was lost. He died alone in the mountain’s “death zone”. His body has remained there since.

This new feature-length documentary follows the Matthews family – specifically Michael’s younger brother, former Made in Chelsea star Spencer – as they attempt to bring Michael’s body home. Spencer was just 10 when his brother died, so his memories of Michael are limited, making them all the more precious.

He describes Michael as a “hero”, though it never occurred to him that his brother’s body could be recovered, until the family received a photo in 2017. There was a sliver of hope that this – blurry and from a distance – was Michael’s body. Spencer, whose “wild optimism” sometimes clouds his judgement, was certain his brother could be found, and set about building a team of expert climbers and sherpas to scale the mountain in search of Michael.

The emotional stakes are high in Finding Michael. Not just because of Michael’s death, but because of the dangers of climbing Everest. “Stay at base camp,” advises Bear Grylls, a long-time mentor to Spencer and executive producer of the film. “I’m going to find that difficult,” he retorts, and for a moment you worry Spencer is going to insist on travelling further up the mountain and risking the same fate as his brother. He doesn’t, though his frustration at not being involved in the search is written all over his face.

Spencer is a stolid storyteller, and at times feels removed from the inherent sentimentality of the project. His whole family, he explains, are stoic to a fault, each of them very pragmatic about both Michael’s death and his potential return home. The only tears come from Spencer’s wife Vogue Williams, who gave birth just eight days before her husband was due to leave for Nepal, and Dave Rodney, a Canadian who was on the same expedition as Michael in 1999.

Watching Spencer visit the same villages, bathe in the same natural pools and be blessed in the same temples is incredibly poignant. Even if he doesn’t indulge his own sentimental side throughout his trek to base camp, it’s impossible to ignore the poignancy of the mission ahead. Once settled in camp, Spencer allows himself emotion, but it is anger, not sadness, that keeps him hopeful. Even when his team study the photograph sent to the family in 2017 and tell him that the body is an Indian climber, not Michael, Spencer’s optimism remains.

Despite the sad circumstances, the scenery in Finding Michael is staggering, and tribute is paid to the skill and selflessness of the climbers who ascend Everest further to look for Michael’s body. They are, I’m afraid to say, ultimately unsuccessful. This might be a Disney film, but it’s also real life, and not every story has the fairy tale ending we’re looking for.

But with the team already in place and the Matthews family footing the bill, Spencer decides it is their duty to recover at least one person who died on the mountain, even if it’s not Michael. It’s a move that turns the documentary from an intensely personal story into something bigger, honouring the huge number of climbers who die on Everest (350 people have lost their lives on the mountain since records began in the Twenties). In their search for Michael, the team come across four dead bodies, and while the ethics of broadcasting the discoveries are questionable, seeing their frozen corpses partially buried in the snow hammers home the ferocity and brutality of the climate.

When Spencer delivers the body of a sherpa to a local family, it is not a happy reunion. The atmosphere is heavy, and the wailing cries of the sherpa’s teenage daughter are haunting. But it was the right thing to do, said Spencer, and any concerns of white saviourism are quickly dispelled by the intrinsic selflessness of giving another family an experience the Matthews will never know.

Finding Michael is ultimately inconclusive, but far from pointless. At its core, it’s a study of the human tendency to push boundaries and the lengths we will go to for the ones we love – when Spencer first starts to entertain the idea that he may not be bringing Michael home, his first thought is that he doesn’t want to upset his mum. It’s about hope against all odds, and learning to live with disappointment when things don’t go our way.

Michael may still be at the top of Everest, but thanks to this film and Spencer’s dedication to keeping his memory alive, I won’t be forgetting him any time soon.