In the Heart of the Sea

"Based on the incredible true story that inspired Moby Dick"

2015 2h 2m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 4,534

ThrillerDramaAdventureActionHistory

Synopsis

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In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex is assaulted by something no one could believe—a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance.

“Based on the incredible true story that inspired Moby Dick”

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Cast

Chris Hemsworth
Owen Chase
Benjamin Walker
George Pollard
Cillian Murphy
Matthew Joy
Brendan Gleeson
Old Thomas Nickerson
Ben Whishaw
Herman Melville
Michelle Fairley
Mrs. Nickerson
Tom Holland
Young Thomas Nickerson
Paul Anderson
Thomas Chappel

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ron Howard
Writers: Soren Bendt Aaboe Pedersen, Charles Leavitt, Charles Leavitt
Languages: English
Countries: Spain, United States of America, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$100M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 94% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Spain, United States of America, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

218+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ron Howard, shot by Anthony Dod Mantle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Roque Baños. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mike Hill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ron Howard directs. Anthony Dod Mantle behind the camera. Roque Baños scores. Mike Hill cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Spain, United States of America, Italy. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$100M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Earned back only 94% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 11 years ago.
4International production across 3 countries: Spain, United States of America, Italy.
5218+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Ron Howard, shot by Anthony Dod Mantle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Roque Baños. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Mike Hill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Chris Hemsworth and Benjamin Walker and Cillian Murphy carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Based on the incredible true story that inspired Moby Dick".
11IMDB entry: tt1390411 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 20 themes, including "sea", "suicide", "ship", "ocean".

The technical file

Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
Original score: Roque Baños
Editing: Mike Hill
Production design: Mark Tildesley
Costume design: Julian Day
Makeup / hair: Luca Vannella
VFX supervisor: Sean Stranks
Sound: Markus Stemler
Stunt coordinator: Eunice Huthart
Runtime: 122 min · 2h 2m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $100,000,000
Box office: $93,900,000
Return: 94% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

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Ron Howard

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-07-24
★ 7/10
We actually know this story, but not the truth until now! Ron Howard's latest sea adventure, stars Chris Hemsworth in an important role. So the people comparing it with 'Moby Dick', because both the film is about the same story, but one was inspired and the other one was, I mean this film was based on the actual event. I had seen the BBC film 'The Whale', not a bad film for a low budget television film. Most importantly, it revealed the truth about what I was not aware of from one of my favourite sea adventure films. I never read the book, but saw the British version, so I knew what I'm going to witness. Still, I was very interested to check it out, because it is a grand film and as expected I loved the visuals. Those sea adventures were very realistic, except the action sequences which is obviously cinema gimmick. The surprise part was the narration. It was a flashback story, something like 'Life of Pi', a man recall his old memory of his survival at the sea with other crew members of the ship Essex when it was attacked by a big white whale. It is kind of impossible to believe what this film says is true. And obviously what we see is not what exactly happened, but very close. So see this film to believe it. Whatever it is, I totally enjoyed watching it. The 2 hour long never looked too long. There are a few mild disturbing scenes due to the theme concept, but it is a good family film. If you like 'Moby Dick' then you should watch it. Definitely an underrated film by the film critics. 7/10
StbMDB2017-05-07
★ 8/10
I love these type of 18th century film flair, and the whole pirate-like or merchant crew voyaging to the open sea looking for a non-abundant resource later to be topped with an impossible foe because of the technology at the time thus lead to strand in mother nature. Good stuff!
Peter McGinn2022-04-03
★ 6/10
This movie never really grabbed me. I was impressed by I guess what real critics call the cinematography. Some of the scenes of the action on the ship and the ocean vistas, were realistic and placed me there in the same way I felt like I was there. With Master and Commander. The plot was adequate to the task as well. A familiar story thanks to Moby Dick, but that was the point. My problem was with the characters. I never connected with any of them. I can’t say why or even why I needed to if the other elements of the movie held up their end. But there it is.