--- title: "Blackfish" year: 2013 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/blackfish" fi1m_score: 78 critics_score: 77 critics_reviews: 18 published: "2026-09-17T05:17:41.707030+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T05:18:20.807606+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Blackfish (2013) Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite · 1h 23m · MPA PG-13 · Documentary **Fi1m score: 78** · Critics 77 from 18 reviews *In a sentence:* The most frightening thing here is not the whale but the park’s own promotional footage > Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s documentary about a killer whale and the park that kept him is as tense as any thriller and makes its case almost too well. It is one-sided, partly by necessity, and Jeff Beal’s score keeps telling us what the footage has already shown. ## Synopsis A 911 call over a black screen: a trainer is in the water with a whale. It is February 2010, at SeaWorld Orlando; the trainer is Dawn Brancheau and the whale is Tilikum, an orca taken as a calf from the sea off Iceland in 1983. Former SeaWorld trainers Samantha Berg, John Hargrove and Jeffrey Ventre describe being hired for their swimming and their smiles and taught almost nothing about the animals. Researcher Ken Balcomb explains how orcas live in the wild. Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s archive footage shows Tilikum’s first home, a small pool at Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia, where he is shut each night into a dark steel module with two older females who bully him. ## Review Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s *Blackfish* has one argument and makes it in 83 minutes: killer whales should not be kept in tanks, and the company that keeps them knew what it was risking and told its customers otherwise. It uses the story of one whale, Tilikum, and the people who spent their working lives a few feet from him. It is effective. It is also a film that has decided what you will think before you sit down, and it does not trouble to hide that. We believe it is right, which is not quite the same as believing it is fair. Most of what you see was not shot for this film. Christopher Towey and Jonathan Ingalls film the interviews plainly, former trainers at kitchen tables and against grey walls, a researcher on a dock, and their work is the least of it. The film is made from other people’s tape: home video shot from the stands, the park’s own promotional reels, local news, court depositions, and a few pieces of security footage that nobody expected the public to see. Eli Despres and Cowperthwaite cut this material like a thriller. Each incident is built slowly, in pieces, with the outcome held back to the last possible moment. It works, and by the third time it works we had started to notice the method. The trainers carry the case. Samantha Berg, John Hargrove, Jeffrey Ventre, Carol Ray, John Jett and Dean Gomersall all worked at the park, and they describe being hired for their swimming and their personalities and taught almost nothing about the animals in front of them. They are not bitter, or not mainly. They loved the whales and say so, and the shame in the room is that they kept performing after what they knew. Ken Balcomb, who has watched wild orcas for decades, provides the comparison: families that stay together for life, in open water, with dialects of their own. Dave Duffus, the researcher who gave evidence for the American safety regulator after the 2010 death, is the calmest person in the film and the most damaging to the park, because all he does is describe procedures. There is one sequence we have not been able to shake. A trainer in a wetsuit is taken by the foot to the bottom of a pool, held there, brought up, and taken down again, for minutes, while his colleagues stand at the edge doing what they can, which is nothing. What frightened us was not the whale but the man’s face each time he surfaced: composed, breathing, waiting for the next one. We watched it with a hand over our mouth. Later, a former trainer describes the day a calf was moved to another park and her mother stayed in a corner of the pool making a sound nobody there had heard before. It is a plain account of something that cannot be shown, and it did more to us than any of the footage. The film’s weaknesses are all of the same kind. Jeff Beal’s score is low strings and a hum, and it sits under nearly everything, insisting that what we are watching is terrible when the pictures have already made that clear. A silence would have done more. When an interviewee’s voice catches, the camera stays, and the cut waits for the tear. A scientist puts up a scan of an orca brain and points to a region; the film moves on before we are told what the evidence is. The park declined to take part, as an end card says, and Mark Simmons, the one former trainer who leans towards defending it, is on screen for a minute or two. The argument would have survived hearing the other side at greater length. It might have been stronger for it. Set against other single-issue documentaries, this is a sharper piece of work than most, and the reason is the archive. The park filmed itself constantly, and the film’s best moments are its own reels: a smiling employee assures a family that a collapsed dorsal fin is common in the wild, and that whales live longer in the park than in the ocean, and then Balcomb says otherwise. We found ourselves laughing at the first claim and angry by the second. Certificate 15, and the certificate is earned by what happens to people rather than to animals. Watch it with the sound a little lower than usual; the pictures are enough. *Fi1m score 78, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews lean strongly positive, and they agree on what the film is for: a case against keeping orcas in captivity, built on the story of Tilikum and the accounts of former SeaWorld trainers. Most critics find that case convincing, and several say it plays like a thriller, with the archive footage of attacks singled out as the most gripping material. The whales’ intelligence and suffering come through clearly, and the trainers’ testimony carries most of the emotional weight. The reservations are about method rather than conclusion. Time Out finds Cowperthwaite didactic, leaning too hard on doomy music and shock revelations, and Little White Lies thinks the conspiracy-thriller framing is the weakest part of an otherwise important film. Others note the argument is one-sided, though one adds that SeaWorld’s refusal to take part left the director little choice. The spread is narrow; almost nobody disputes the film’s point, only how loudly it is made. ### Reviews we read (18) - **IndieWire**, Kimber Myers (90/100, inferred): The film is a heartbreaking and effectively damning indictment of SeaWorld's practices with killer whales. It effectively exposes the consequences of captivity through personal stories and evidence of harm to both animals and trainers. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-blackfish-is-a-heartbreaking-effectively-damning-indictment-of-seaworld-95978/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Matt Zoller Seitz (90/100, inferred): The film powerfully documents abuse in orca captivity and corporate practices at SeaWorld, using the story of Tilikum to argue for reform and highlight the creatures' intelligence and suffering. It blends thriller elements with testimony and footage to make an urgent case against treating sentient beings as entertainment. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blackfish-2013) - **Slant Magazine**, Bill Weber (90/100, inferred): The documentary turns the orcas' rebellion against corporate captors into a showbiz horror film, gutting SeaWorld's image with non-exploitative incredulity at its avarice. It effectively mixes interviews, animation, and archival footage to reveal suppressed employee casualties and the whales' trauma. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/blackfish/) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw, Henry Barnes and Xan Brooks (90/100, inferred): This documentary about fatal attacks by performing killer whales is as gripping as a serial-killer thriller. The real villain is not the whale but its human captors who have driven the orcas mad through captivity and performance demands. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/25/blackfish-captive-killer-whales-documentary-review) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (90/100, inferred): The documentary is emotionally powerful and a damning indictment of SeaWorld, exposing the trauma of orca captivity and corporate cover-ups of attacks. It highlights the intelligence and suffering of the whales through former trainers' accounts and scientific context. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/blackfish-sundance-review-414203/) - **Vulture**, David Edelstein (90/100, inferred): The nonfiction film is brutal, haunting, and necessary, revealing the monstrous realities of orcas in captivity through gripping trainer testimonies and evidence of their intelligence and emotional lives. It builds like a thriller while underscoring the animals' suffering and the industry's deceptions. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2013/07/movie-review-blackfish.html) - **Total Film**, Kevin Harley (85/100, inferred): The review highlights the film's sensitive handling of shocking real events involving Tilikum and SeaWorld. It praises the deeper thesis on how captivity creates trauma and monsters, calling the argument persuasive and passionate. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/blackfish-review/) - **Evening Standard** (80/100, inferred): The critic presents the film as a convincing portrait of captivity's harms through expert testimony and the story of Tilikum. Some trainer accounts feel overly emotional, but the core argument against keeping whales in captivity holds strong. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/blackfish-film-review-8732417.html) - **Little White Lies**, Ashley Clark (3/4/3): The critic finds the documentary important and informative but imperfect and frustrating in parts. It makes a convincing case against orca captivity through archive footage and expert testimony but is less successful when it tries to build a conspiracy thriller narrative. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/blackfish) - **Screen Daily** (80/100, inferred): The film is described as a convincing condemnation of orca treatment at parks like SeaWorld, presenting evidence through haunted former trainers. It praises the director's restraint in avoiding overstating the case given the emotional material. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/blackfish/5052545.article) - **Los Angeles Times**, Gary Goldstein (70/100, inferred): The stirring documentary tracks Tilikum's case and the effects of long-term captivity on the intelligent orca, interweaving testimony and footage to question SeaWorld's practices. Though one-sided, its advocacy for the animals' protection and understanding makes a convincing case. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-blackfish-review-20130717-story.html) - **Variety**, Justin Chang (70/100, inferred): Cowperthwaite's film builds an authoritative psychological profile of Tilikum and a direct attack on SeaWorld's captivity practices through trainer testimonies and footage. It succeeds as a single-issue documentary, arguing compellingly against marine mammal confinement. [Read](https://variety.com/2013/film/markets-festivals/blackfish-1117949104/) - **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (3/5): The review calls it a forceful documentary offering a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at aqua parks through former employees' interviews. It criticises the director's didactic approach that overdoes dramatic elements like doomy music and shock revelations. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/blackfish) - **The New York Times**, Jeannette Catsoulis (Critic's Pick): Cowperthwaite's documentary uses Tilikum's story and former trainers' accounts to deliver a hypercritical investigation of SeaWorld's practices and the gap between its image and reality. Chilling footage and expert testimony underscore the unsuitability of orcas for captivity. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/movies/blackfish-a-documentary-looks-critically-at-seaworld.html) - **Paste**, Jeremy Mathews (7.5): The critic finds Blackfish a strong, clear documentary that effectively argues the orca attacks stem from human mistreatment in captivity. It singles out the gripping, thriller-like archival footage and the film's focus on Tilikum's story as particularly effective in making its case. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/blackfish) - **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (B+): The film is a straightforward, compelling indictment of SeaWorld that effectively uses expert insights, gripping footage, and trainer stories to show how captivity harms orcas emotionally and leads to tragedy. It has the power to change viewers' perspectives on marine parks in just 83 minutes. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/review-blackfish-is-a-heartbreaking-effectively-damning-indictment-of-seaworld-20130716/) - **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (80/100, inferred): Cowperthwaite's thorough documentary uses archive footage and testimony to argue that captivity turned Tilikum aggressive, exposing SeaWorld's profit-driven practices and poor safety standards. It broadens the debate beyond a simple polemic but is hampered by the park's refusal to respond. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/blackfish-2013-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) - **HeyUGuys**, Nia Childs (3.5/5): The documentary is a soul-crushing but essential viewing that highlights the cruelty of orca captivity at SeaWorld through Tilikum's story. It effectively balances education and emotion while criticizing the park's practices, though the structure can feel slightly jumbled at times. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/blackfish-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Gabriela Cowperthwaite - **Director:** Gabriela Cowperthwaite - **Writer:** Eli Despres, Gabriela Cowperthwaite - **Cinematography:** Christopher Towey, Jonathan Ingalls - **Editor:** Eli Despres, Gabriela Cowperthwaite - **Music:** Jeff Beal - **Producer:** Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Manny Oteyza - **Cast:** Dean Gomersall as Self; Samantha Berg as Self; John Jett as Self; John Hargrove as Self; Carol Ray as Self; Jeffrey Ventre as Self; Kim Ashdown as Self; Ken Balcomb as Self - **Runtime:** 1h 23m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13 - **Release (the US):** 19 July 2013 - **Genres:** Documentary - **Box office:** $2 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2vG_Ifu4zg ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: streaming - Tubi: free - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - Amazon Prime Video: rent $2.99, sd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $4.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $4.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AU, BR, CA, GB, HK, HU, IE, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, NZ, PH, PL, SE, SG, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Cove* (2009): Dolphins, a Japanese fishing town and a film crew who behave like burglars - *Grizzly Man* (2005), Fi1m 85: Herzog on a man who loved bears and would not accept what bears are — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/grizzly-man.md) - *Project Nim* (2011): A chimpanzee raised as a child, then passed along; the humans come off worse - *Gunda* (2020): A pig, her piglets and no narration; the quietest argument for animals we know - *Cow* (2021): Andrea Arnold follows one dairy cow for years and never once looks away --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/blackfish