Mark Wahlberg’scritically acclaimed disaster dramaDeepwater Horizonis set to make waves on streaming next month. Starting in January, viewers can experience the gripping and emotional retelling of one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history as it hits Tubi. Released in 2016 and boasting an impressive 82% score on Rotten Tomatoes,Deepwater Horizontellsthe harrowing storyof the devastating 2010 explosion on the titular offshore drilling rig. The incident caused a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in widespread environmental destruction and the tragic loss of 11 lives.
Wahlberg stars as Mike Williams, the rig’s chief electronics technician who gets caught up in the chaos, in a film directed byPeter Berg(Lone Survivor,Friday Night Lights), and it’s a remarkable story of ordinary people doing whatever they could to survive the most unimaginable of circumstances.
How Good is ‘Deepwater Horizon’?
The movie received rave reviews from critics who admired the lack of flashiness from Berg’s direction, instead focusing on the sheer horror of the situation that the doomed workers faced. There was nothing exciting about it, just feelings of sheer dread. Although the film didn’t succeed at the box office, sometimes a film like this doesn’t need to hit big, it’s just important the story was told in the first place and that more people hear about the sheer scandal that took place on the oil rig.Collider’s review was hugely positiveon both Wahlberg’s stoic performance and Berg’s restrained direction:
When the rig eventually blows up, it’s nightmarish. Berg isn’t trying to thrill his audience. There’s nothing here that will make you feel good or triumphant beyond the understated heroism of the workers who tried to save each other’s lives. There are no big speeches and few grand gestures. Instead, Berg sticks us in the middle of the firestorm, and tries to put us in the mindset of those who were trapped on the flaming rig. It’s a total assault on the senses with the entire rig engulfed in flames and debris constantly raining down. 11 men lost their lives in the disaster, but looking at Berg’s depiction of the disaster, it feels like a miracle that more people didn’t perish.
This isn’t a piece of escapist fare. Even when you look at Mark Wahlberg, who typically would get to be the all-American hero who saves the day, he’s playing Williams as a low-key, regular guy. There may have been the temptation to give the story a Hollywood sheen, but Berg has found a way to get blockbuster effects while sacrificing none of the realism. The result is a film that will both infuriate and horrify in equal measure.
Deepwater Horizonwill arrive on Tubi on January 1.
Deepwater Horizon
Deepwater Horizon is a 2016 disaster film based on the BP oil spill. Directed by Peter Berg and based on a story by Matthew Sand, the film chronicles a mishandling of an oceanic drilling job that leads to a massive explosion and mass amounts of oil leaking into the ocean depths.
