Finding Michael on Disney+: Release date, trailer, and everything we know so far

Disney+ (UK) is all set to release yet another exhilarating documentary, Finding Michael, this March 3, 2023. The film is based on the disappearance of Michael Matthews, the youngest British mountaineer ever to reach the peak of Mount Everest.

Here's the official trailer for the documentary:

The official synopsis of the documentary reads:

"Spencer Matthews heads to Everest to try and find his brother Michael who disappeared 23 years ago."

The real-time documentary seems to be an emotional ride as Michael's younger brother, Spencer Matthews, a reality TV star and entrepreneur in his own right, sets out to re-track Everest in search of his missing brother's body.

In this expedition, he is joined by experts like record-breaking climber Nirmal Puja and British adventurer Bear Grylls.

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Finding Michael: A sneak peek into Disney's latest original documentary, why Bear Grylls agreed to be a part of the film

In 1999, Michael Matthews was the youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest. However, he disappeared after almost three hours and was never traced back. At the time, Michael was 22 years old and had established his name in the derivative trading sector. He was loved and adored by his family, friends, and his younger brother, Spencer Matthews.

As per Disney+ Informer, the plot for the Finding Michael documentary sketches out as follows:

"Aged just 10 when Michael went missing, his brother, entrepreneur and broadcaster Spencer Matthews, always struggled to accept his death. Over 20 years later, Spencer receives a photo of a body on the mountain that could be Michael. He heads to Nepal and recruits Nims Purja, the world ’14 peaks’ record holder, to lead a team and search Everest’s ‘Death Zone’ to try to find Michael. "

Even in the trailer for Finding Michael, we find Spencer expressing grief for losing his brother when he says at the beginning how he hates looking at Michael's photographs in the Himalayas. This is because they remind him how his brother died a lonely death in the same place. It's not just him, but the other family members, too, seem tense, awaiting the impending decades-long closure.

"He was left alone on the mountains..It's an awful way to die"

Besides his parents, wife, and daughter, we see glimpses of Spencer's undertaking with experts like Bear Grylls and Nirmal Puja in the trailer. There were some tense and numb moments throughout. The trailer ends on a heavy note that reads,

"No mountains are worth dying for, especially the second time."

According to statistics, one in seven people dies while climbing Everest. Thus, the fear of Spencer Matthews' family already going through a loss makes a lot of sense.

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How Bear Grylls became a part of the Finding Michael documentary

It was interesting to see how British adventurer and television presenter Bear Grylls agreed to collaborate on this project. The Metro UK reported,

"Bear and Spencer first met years ago before either found fame when Bear came to Spencer's school to talk to the pupils about his experience reaching the summit of Everest himself. Spencer recalls standing up and asking the school's special guest if he'd heard of Michael Matthews? And then there was silence."

They have been friends ever since, and so when the documentary was being planned, Bear Grylls' insights and expertise could not be missed.

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Finding Michael releases this March 3, 2023, worldwide on the Disney+ platform.