“You’re so brave”—a phrase my wheelchair-using friend hates. Why? Because people see that she has a disability and automatically tell her she’s brave, with no actual reason as to why. Oh, is it because she has a disability? How does that make one brave? Because she’s living? Or maybe it’s because she left the house? Once she explained it, I understood exactly where she was coming from. Disability is the one community anyone can join at any time. Like my friend, Mandy Horvath was unaware that one day she’d join this community, and like her, Mandy has refused to let the condition of her body set parameters on what she can and can’t achieve. In The Ascent, she sets out to take on one of nature’s biggest challenges, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.
When The Ascent opens, we see titles that remind us of the dangers of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, where more than 12 people die each year. Thousands more never make it to the top. Then we meet Mandy and watch as someone tends to her hands. The next morning, we see her, a double amputee, gear up and climb this mountain. Instantly, you sit up in your seat, eager to see how this journey will end. Before we can watch the climb, the doc shifts to a montage of news and talk show clips about Mandy and how she became a double amputee.
Mandy lost both of her legs in 2014 after being found unconscious on the train tracks. To this day, she’s unsure of how she got there. The police did little to no investigation and ruled it an accident, but Mandy and her family are unsatisfied with that answer. This is where the documentary takes a turn, as what appeared to be an inspirational story of mind over matter is also a true crime thriller.
The documentary vacillates back and forth between Mandy preparing for the climb and giving us background about her upbringing, the night of her accident, and how her life trajectory changed afterwards, including how she lives in constant fear that someone might see her and hurt her.
Mandy wasn’t alone the night of her accident, yet none of them helped her that night. Rightfully so, this makes it hard for Mandy to trust people. There’s a part of the doc that I found the most cathartic because, to complete the climb, Mandy has to rely on others. She has to trust her guide, Julius John White “Whitey,” expedition commander Carel Verhoef, and physiotherapist Sally Grierson.
Mandy isn’t the typical “inspirational” character, and directors Edward Drake, Scott Veltri, and Francis Cronin don’t attempt to turn her into one, either. In learning more about her background, we’re introduced to grittier parts of her life, and the filmmakers don’t attempt to clean up her messy and complicated past: turbulent childhood, alcoholism, arrest, and overcoming addiction.
In the doc, the guide mentions that the mountain will ask you for something, but it’s more like you have to sacrifice something in order to reach the top. Mandy can’t carry extra weight on this climb. To reach the top, she has to push past her emotional baggage. She has to push past the grief over who she used to be, forgive herself for her reckless behavior, let go of self-blame, and learn to trust others again.
This isn’t the first mountain Mandy has climbed; in fact, she holds seven world records for climbing, including this one. “I’m never putting my fate in somebody else’s fucking hands again,” Mandy said. She attacks the scary as a way of combating her fears. The mountains are within her control, unlike the accident.
Climbing these various mountains and peaks gives her physical hurdles to overcome that, in turn, assist in her progress of overcoming her traumatic past. The higher she gets, the further she is from those things that plague her. At the end, Mandy reaches Africa’s highest peak. She’s triumphant, but she isn’t fixed. “It’s a choice to heal, and it’s a choice to change the pain that I’ve endured into something beautiful,” Mandy said. The Ascent doesn’t try to wrap Mandy’s story up in a neat bow. Instead, it offers a complex portrait of a woman whose physical and emotional journeys are intertwined. By the end, you may be inspired to look at your own life and wonder what obstacles you’ve been making excuses to avoid climbing.
Other Articles
No Comment! Be the first one.