t's safe to say that I will never step in another Sea World park the rest of my life after watching the powerful documentary BLACKFISH.
CNN FIlms has produced a detailed, smart look at Killer Whales in captivity, going back 40 years to trace the horrors of keeping these massive creatures in what are essentially glorified bathtubs.
Starting with actual footage of a team trapping and separating a baby Orca from its family, the film traces the lineage and dangerous history of Tilikum, a killer whale that has indeed killed three people, including one of the top trainers in the world.
Powerful scenes show real footage of the baby being captured and hauled onto the boat as its family, untrapped and free to go, line up screaming and howling in anguish at the trappers.
Former Sea World trainers and employees give in depth, detailed and emotional interviews, combined with actual footage of them from Sea World, that tell of their regrets over bonding with the mammals, only to watch them be mistreated or turn on their captors.
The film is fast, detailed and shocking as it unwraps the very tightly controlled media spin that Sea World has dumped upon the country for years.
The fact that Tilikum's DNA is now in over 50 killer whales across the Sea World parks and that this notorious whale is STILL performing at Sea World Orlando is as scary as it is shocking.
As the film's tagline says, "Never Capture What You Can't Control".
Indeed. Real footage of many of the attacks, along with eye witness accounts, make the facts very hard to submerge.
A disturbing, powerful documentary that gets a solid B.
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