Ater a short run in select U.S. theaters, Lucy Walker's inspiring movie "Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa" has landed on Netflix after being acquired by one of the best streaming services following its debut at the Toronto Internal Film Festival 2023. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker's latest project landed on Wednesday, July 31, and it turns the spotlight on an incredible figure: Lhakpa Sherpa
Lhakpa is a Nepali mountain climber who became the first woman ever to summit Mount Everest. Incredibly, she has summited the world's tallest mountain no less than 10 times in total (so far), more than any other woman on the planet. Walker's feature-length doc follows Lhakpa Sherpa back to Nepal as she prepares for that 10th climb in May 2022.
Along the way, we learn about all the other challenges Lhakpa has faced in her life to date. Walker deftly weaves Lhakpa's history in with breathtaking shots of the scenery, but it's her subject who makes "Mountain Queen" quite as compelling as it is. It's an awe-inspiring watch both because of the cinematography and because of the woman at the heart of this particular tale.
Read on for more info about the celebrated documentary movie, and what the critics have to say about this new arrival (spoiler alert: it's pretty positive!).
What is 'Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa' about?
"Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa" is a stirring portrait of the life of Lhakpa Sherpa, the first woman ever to conquer the world's tallest mountain. Having been denied an education and work because of her gender as a child in Nepal, she emigrated to the U.S. at 28 years old. There, she survived intimate partner violence and juggled raising her children in Connecticut as a single mother to her two daughters, Sunny and Shiny, all while keeping her love of the great outdoors alive.
The official synopsis reads: "The first Nepali woman to summit and survive Mount Everest, Lhakpa Sherpa devoted her life to inspiring and empowering girls. Now a single mother working at a Whole Foods in Connecticut, she embarks on a dramatic return to the mountain, determined to redeem her life’s purpose and inspire her own daughters."
Speaking to Tudum about what made her want to tell Lhakpa's story to the tell, Lucy Walker said: "Lhakpa is an astounding, phenomenal woman, and her story is larger than life. I love weaving together the summits of her life with the summits of her climbing career. She is an incredible mountain climber, and I wanted to give a big-budget sports movie a female character for a change.
"And I also wanted to do it with a Sherpa woman. It’s really rad that this Everest climb is Lhakpa and her Sherpa climbing team, but they’re not working for Western tourists. They are the stars of the show on their own. And so I wanted to tell the story not just of this thrilling Everest climb that we get to go on with her, but also the incredible life that she’s led."
What are critics saying about 'Mountain Queen'?
As we mentioned, Lucy Walker's doc currently has a perfect 100% critics score on the review aggregate site, Rotten Tomatoes. Admittedly, that score's not from the biggest sample size — only 10 reviews have been logged at the time of writing — but the reviews that are logged thus far have some very positive things to say about "Mountain Queen".
The Hollywood Reporter's Caryn James claimed Walker and her team had 'created an absorbing narrative', adding: "Mountain Queen: The summits of Lhakpa Sherpa" includes dazzling footage of Lhakpa on Everest, sometimes in snow and ferocious wind. But this engaging, modest and fiercely determined woman's life is the real point here".
Writing for Variety, Carlos Aguilar called the movie 'a poignant and heart-pounding documentary' and claimed "Mountain Queen" goes beyond 'simplistic triumphalism' by capturing Lhakpa's 'distinct facets'.
Finally, in their 3-star review for The Guardian, Leslie Felperin wrote: "This portrait of title subject Lhakpa Sherpa, the only woman to have summited Mount Everest 10 times, is so densely packed with uplifting moments that at times it feels like emotional mountaineering – but the climb has terrific views".
Looking for more Netflix recommendations? Check out our roundup of the best Netflix documentaries and the best Netflix movies you can stream on one of the very best streaming services right now.
