Blackfish
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: July 19, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
83
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallAug 15, 2013
Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite creates a fascinating character study of Tilikum, part of a revered species without a single confirmed kill of a human in the wild. Captivity is where Blackfish's evidence continually points the blame for Tilikum's deadly behavior. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisJul 25, 2013
For the most part, Cowperthwaite keeps the preachiness in check, letting the scientists, former SeaWorld trainers and other witnesses tell it as it is. Indeed, the scary training scenes - uniformly gripping - do most of the talking. Read full review
100
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJul 19, 2013
It’s true that the number of whales in captivity isn’t huge. But they’ve now become the mightiest symbols of our cultural hubris — of our inability to manage creatures we have the power to capture and imprison. It’s a metaphor for the ages. Read full review
100
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJul 18, 2013
An extraordinary, must-see examination of what humans do to killer whales so that these amazing creatures can become one more entertainment. Read full review
100
VarietyJustin ChangJun 4, 2013
Righteous, captivating and entirely successful as single-issue-focused documentaries go, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s film draws on startling video footage and testimonies from former orca trainers, building an authoritative argument on behalf of this majestic species. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnJun 4, 2013
The movie makes a strong case against the captivity of killer whales under sub-circus conditions, but the stance is made even more horrifying because so little has changed in the history of the organization. Blackfish is less balanced investigation than full-on takedown of a broken system. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirJul 21, 2013
Cowperthwaite builds a portrait of an intelligent but profoundly traumatized animal who was taken from his family in the North Atlantic as an infant, and has been driven to anger, resentment and perhaps psychosis after spending his life in a series of concrete swimming pools. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJul 18, 2013
Unapologetically designed both to inform and affect, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s delicately lacerating documentary, Blackfish, uses the tragic tale of a single whale and his human victims as the backbone of a hypercritical investigation into the marine-park giant SeaWorld Entertainment. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJul 16, 2013
The movie is revealing, wrenching, and important, a reminder that what feels wrong in our gut—the effort to turn free-roaming and unknowable beasts into caged vaudevillians—is always worth investigating. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJun 4, 2013
Focusing on the notoriously aggressive orca Tilikum, this gripping film presents a persuasive case against keeping the species – and by extension any wild animal – in captivity for the purposes of human entertainment. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeJanice PageJul 31, 2013
What’s on camera is both damning and expertly assembled, a filmmaking effort worthy of standing with 2009’s Oscar-winning documentary about dolphin abuse, “The Cove.” Read full review
88
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJul 26, 2013
It’s upsetting and scary to watch the footage of orca attacks collected in Blackfish, a damning documentary about the treatment of the animals by marine parks. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniJul 25, 2013
Very few of us would like to think about the physical and emotional toll that life in captivity takes on these magnificent creatures. Gabriela Cowperthwaite's powerful, heartbreaking, and beautifully crafted documentary, Blackfish, forces us to do just that. Read full review
88
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJul 15, 2013
This is as thorough a take-down of a business and its practices as you’re likely to ever see. Read full review
83
The PlaylistKimber MyersJul 16, 2013
It succeeds not just because of the gripping footage and troubling stories of the spectators and trainers close to the incidents, but also because it consults experts in the field who offer insights into killer whales’ biology and psychology. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 8, 2013
Blackfish is a disturbing movie, one that will make you rethink parks like SeaWorld and their value. Read full review
80
The TelegraphJenny McCartneyAug 3, 2013
As an indictment of the industry, this is strong stuff. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid ParkinsonJul 22, 2013
Impassioned and disturbing, this documentary matches "The Cove" for marrying cool intellect with real fire. Read full review
80
Total FilmKevin HarleyJul 19, 2013
Like a more obvious underwater twist on Herzog’s "Grizzly Man," Blackfish presents a persuasive, passionate argument: wild nature’s right to freedom demands respect, cock and all. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 18, 2013
More persuasively still, Blackfish — an Indian name for orcas — argues against the very concept of quasiamusement parks like SeaWorld that turn giant creatures meant for the wild into hemmed-in, penned-up entertainers. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJul 16, 2013
Blackfish, a troubling exposé of Sea World’s hazardous entertainment trade, does much to restore a realistic sense of danger, interviewing former park workers who detail their shoddy, nonscientific training, and chronicling the much-suppressed history of whale-on-human violence. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezAug 1, 2013
Today, 54 percent of Sea World’s whales have Tilikum’s genes, which is a terrifying thought. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesBill StametsJul 26, 2013
Dispiriting as Blackfish is at times, it offers beautiful advocacy for orca freedom. Anecdotes and data indicate these mammals are highly sensitive and social. Treating them as we do for our entertainment and profit is unconscionable. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJul 25, 2013
The film may be depressing. But even with a terrible, watery musical score, it's also good. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJul 19, 2013
One glaring question the film doesn’t raise: Why, given his history, is Tilikum still entertaining in sea parks? Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 19, 2013
Forget "The Conjuring," Blackfish may be the scariest movie around. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineBill WeberJul 13, 2013
The Frankensteinian rebellion of orcas against their corporate captors turns this doc into a sort of showbiz horror film. Read full review
70
NPRTomas HachardJul 19, 2013
The film, it should be said, does not blame Tilikum for his actions. It posits instead that, like a disenfranchised youth driven to a life of crime, Tilikum is a product of his upbringing. Read full review
70
The DissolveTasha RobinsonJul 17, 2013
Taken as a whole, Blackfish does an admirable job of preaching without force-feeding, seamlessly blending opinion with reportage, and addressing its central issues from enough angles to make a series of end-runs around dubious viewers. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinJul 17, 2013
Blackfish, named after the Native American term for orcas, remains decidedly one-sided. But when that "side" is such a vital, convincing proponent for the greater protection and understanding of such evolved and majestic creatures, it can't help but win. Read full review
70
Film.comJordan HoffmanJul 16, 2013
It’s unlikely anyone who sees Blackfish will be trekking to Shamu Stadium this summer. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJul 17, 2013
Blackfish’s strongest argument against the existence of parks like SeaWorld is how much more gorgeous orcas look in the open ocean than leaping about an oversized swimming pool. And the audience won’t get soaking wet watching them frolic in movies, either. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Geoff PevereJul 18, 2013
As more than one orca expert points out in the film, when you take a creature born to roam thousands of miles of open water and stick it in a pool to do tricks, there’s going to be some behavioural blowback. In Tilikum’s case, it’s actually described as a form of induced “psychosis.” Read full review
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