Selected cinemas from 9 December and Netflix from 16 December
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AT THE start of The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari, the documentary warns viewers that it contains “material related to a real-life traumatic event” and “viewer discretion is advised”.
This is a wise move. Director Rory Kennedy never actually shows gruesome footage of the raw injuries received by those on the volcanic island of Whakaari when it erupted on 9 December 2019. But the intimacy with which she directs justifies the caution, as she recreates the tragedy using interviews and survivor footage.
Situated in New Zealand’s north-eastern Bay of Plenty region, Whakaari – also called White Island – was a very popular tourist destination, and 47 people were on the island when it erupted at 2.11pm local time. Twenty-two died. The rest experienced severe burns and injuries that required intensive care as a result of the rock, ash and steam spewing onto them.
Kennedy has directed many documentaries, including Ethel, about her mother’s life as a member of the Kennedy family (she was married to Robert F. Kennedy).
Here, she takes her time establishing why so many visitors were on Whakaari that day. We see striking shots of what made the volcano such an attraction. Her footage shows steam emerging from soil, bubbling water in puddles, an acid lake, craters, and bright yellow and white sulphur chimneys.
But you can feel Kennedy ratchet up the tension, assisted by the talent aboard the documentary’s creative team. Executive producers include A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio and Academy Award winners Ron Howard and Brian Glazer, while Hans Zimmer – who is now involved in David Attenborough documentaries – and Steve Mazzaro wrote the doom-laden score.
Thanks to the brave interviews of the survivors – including Matt and Lauren Urey, Jesse Langford, Geoff Hopkins, Brian Depauw and Kelsey Waghorn – Kennedy builds a moment-by-moment account of the day. In the end, it is the survivors’ stories, and the videos and audio they recorded during their escape, that make the documentary compelling.
In particular, the Ureys’ accounts increase the suspense. They give a strong sense of the volcano’s natural power. Lauren says she felt something was amiss when she heard the volcano had erupted in 2013 and 2016, and was nervous even before she got to the island.
We hear the Ureys’ heartbreaking stories as they relive total darkness, unbearable heat and hearing people preparing to die. Watching from within such an intimate viewpoint as chaos unfolds makes The Volcano all the more painful.
The camera footage is mostly too shaky to make an impact, although there are some spectacular close-up shots of the plumes of smoke taken from a boat that had just left the island. But the audio of people running for their lives, the rumbling sound of the eruption and the sheer panic are truly evocative.
Despite hearing about the survivors’ excruciating pain and seeing the lasting effects of injuries they experienced, The Volcano is ultimately hopeful. Those who survived are still seeking answers. But they were saved thanks to the courage and kindness of strangers – a boat that had just left the island returned and picked them up. This is a message Kennedy delivers deftly, making the documentary even more inspiring and powerful.
Gregory Wakeman is a writer based in Los Angeles, California.
