TRANGO Film Review

TRANGO follows internationally renowned athletes on an expedition to accomplish the first ever ski descent of the formidable Great Trango Towers in Pakistan. The Karakoram Range, home of the Trango Towers, is among the most extreme terrain on the planet. On May 9, 2024, Morrison, Lusti and their team were the first to successfully climb and ski down the 20K-foot West Face of Great Trango Tower. For those the WORD patrons not passionately into skiing and mountain climbing that’s the equivalent of The Mother of All Ski Downs.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Leo Hoorn, TRANGO documents the team’s preparation and execution of the descent. Joined by Nick McNutt and Chantel Astorga, Lusti and Morrison navigate risk, grief, and the physical and psychological demands of high-altitude exposure. At over 20,000 feet, their survival hinges every second on on trust, shared resilience, and the strength of their partnership.

TRANGO is scheduled to premiere on a VOD release on Documentary+ Friday, February 13. Additional streaming releases scheduled for Roku and other major platforms – along with a PBS broadcast in select markets in spring 2026.

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This writer-reviewer can’t recall ever reviewing a sports documentary as absorbing, engrossing, captivating, gripping, riveting, enthralling and spell binding as this 40-minute short documentary that feels like a full-throttle, head-on action-adventure feature doc. I also can’t recall reviewing a film as enigmatic and esoteric yet obsessively mesmerizing.
Note to the WORD patrons and other visitors: This film has a substantial melancholic flush caused by the perils TANGO characters and the production crew, the latter pretty much not seen in the course of the movie, face off against, the perils from the beginning and absolutely until the end with possible and harm always imminent. Many in an audience may feel what they feel.

TRANGO has been awarded as well as featured prominently at multiple mountain and adventure film festivals, such as the 2025 NZ Mountain Film Festival where it was highlighted as a Grand Prize Film. A quickie-survey of past film ratings just short of 10 reportedly because viewers were in awe of the cinematography as well as riveting storytelling as this reviewer is. Breathtaking vistas of Pakistan’s Great Trango Tower and the subsequent decent capturing both scale and danger in ways that go beyond typical adventure sports docs.
The film isn’t just about an sublime athletic achievement — it delves into risk, grief and trust among team members (and production staff not seen) giving it an emotional depth that resonates with audiences beyond just ski or mountaineering fans. Some reviews mention standout sound design and intimate moments that make viewers feel present at altitude, adding to the overall strong sensory experience. Verisimilitude, figuratively speaking, off the charts.

Yet, TRANGO has a limitation that feels intentional but isn’t. Viewers seeking conventional narrative arcs or explicit contextualization may find the film enigmatic and esoteric. But that withholding is precisely the point. Hoorn wants the audience to meet the film halfway, to read meaning in restraint.

Bottom line: TRANGO is a rigorously composed, quietly powerful film that treats extreme terrain not as spectacle but as a testing ground for attention, humility, and resolve. It’s less about conquering a place than about listening to it — and to oneself — under pressure.