Fans just can’t get enough of a movie that’s recently landed on Netflix which details the heartbreaking tale that inspired arguably the world’s most popular fictional whale novel.
The historical adventure drama movie, directed by Ron Howard, premiered in 2015 with a star-studded cast and a tear-jerking plot.
It was based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2000 non-fiction novel of the same name which explores the true story of an American whaling ship, called Essex, that sank while out at sea in the southern Pacific Ocean in 1820 after an attack by a sperm whale.
The event inspired Herman Melville, played by Ben Whishaw in the film, to write his iconic epic novel, Moby Dick, in 1851.
Now, the movie about the real story of Essex and the ship’s sailors, played by Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland and Cillian Murphy, has hit the streaming platform – and Netflix viewers are only now just realizing how great it is.
Taking to Twitter, several viewers said In the Heart of the Sea was a ‘fantastic film’ and not one to be missed.
“Netflix suggested I watch In the Heart of the Sea, as it’s been popular lately. I loved it. Great story and amazing visuals,” one fan penned as they said one scene in particular showed the ‘best depictions of the guilt, anger, and sadness we hold on to from trauma’.
Others rated it five stars while another viewer passed on their admiration to Howard, writing: “@RealRonHoward I missed your movie In The Heart of the Sea in 2015, I’m watching it now and 30 minutes into it, I had to pause it to give you a resounding WOW!
“It shows your incredible vision.
“We are alongside the men and the whale in the struggle. A beautiful and cautionary tale.”
Explaining the basis of his focus on the sailors’ stories, Philbrick told TIME in 2015: “Where Moby Dick ends is really where the story of the story of the Essex kicks in.
“It’s not a fictionalization of a story, it’s a transformation of a story and all the darkness of the Essex disaster.”
Some parts of the movie were dramatized for theatrical effect, though the director said he didn’t need to ‘invent very much’ and stuck as closely as possible to the harrowing reality the sailors endured.
As part of the film, Hemsworth was also put on a strict 500-calorie diet to lose his ‘Thor’ weight to reflect the rugged appearance of a 19th century sailor stranded and starved out at sea.
However, despite the recent hefty praise, the movie didn’t do so well when it first came out almost a decade ago. In fact, it flopped among audiences in 2015, receiving mixed reviews and grossing only $94.3 million against its $100 million budget.
In the Heart of the Sea has just a 42 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
A Twitter user also said they believed critics ‘got it wrong’ at the time, while another applauded Netflix for ‘reintroducing movies to a fan base that may not have been paying attention the first time around’.
In the Heart of the Sea is available to stream on Netflix now.
