"Blackfish" (2013)

Blackfish is a message movie that somehow transcends being a message movie. All the film has to do is convince you of the negligence, greed and horrors of Sea World, and yet there's more at work in the film. The documentary deals with the vicious, atrocious track record of trainers killed or injured by the famed sea park's killer whales -- stretching back to the earliest days of the company in the 1970's but only really gaining attention in the past decade. But the film is more broadly about the way capitalist structures and interests cause people to do awful things in the name of money and appearances, and why people tow the company line even when they consciously know that line of thinking is unjustifiable. The latter point matters because, as the film notes, there is a deeply moral quandary at its heart. Sea World has mistreated its killer whales for decades, abusing them and turning them into the very killers their name implies. On top of this, they've covered up these abuses and sold a rose-colored image of themselves. Blackfish is one-sided but it really has no intent to see Sea World as anything other than inhumane, potentially deadly and unjustifiable. The film passionately argues its point of view and leaves us shaken enough that we can't help but agree with its sentiments.

Grade: ★★★