Netflix’s blow-by-blow recounting of the events of December 9, 2019 will leave you heartbroken and furious in equal measure, writes Catherine McGregor.
Many of us in Aotearoa remember where we were when we heard the news about an eruption on Whakaari; I was at my desk at The Spinoff, trying to piece together what had happened from brief breaking news updates and scant radio reports. With the island so far from the mainland and communication with those stuck there all but impossible, it took hours for the full horrific reality to come into view.
The on-the-ground story of those hours is told in agonising detail in The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari, directed by US documentarian Rory Kennedy, whose previous film was the equally disturbing Downfall: The Case Against Boeing. The Whakaari story is one whose outlines will likely already be familiar: the separate tour groups on the island, including many passengers from the cruise ship Ovation of the Seas; the rush for safety when the volcano blew; the terrible injuries and deaths; and the eventual rescue of survivors by sea and air.
On film, those hazy details are brought into razor-sharp view. The documentary is tightly focused on the events of the day itself, told by the people who were there – including five survivors of the eruption itself – and as we follow their arrival on the island the sense of dread is palpable. US tourist Lauren Urey remembers her disappointment over the volcano’s lack of bubbling lava giving way to rising anxiety about the danger she was in; Hamilton pastor Geoff Hopkin can still recall the beauty of the saffron-coloured sulphur deposits, and being struck by the “vastness and the power” of the otherworldly landscape they were encroaching on.
And then, the eruption. The survivors’ descriptions of those three minutes are utterly harrowing, while the real-time cellphone footage adds an almost unbearable intensity to the storytelling. There’s little to be seen in the recordings – only movement and shadows as the person holding the phone runs for their life – but the sounds of terror and pain are unmistakable.
Every one of the talking heads has a dramatic story to tell, from local Māori leader Pouroto Ngaropō to helicopter pilot Mark Law, who played a key role in the rescue of survivors. None, however, are as powerful as the recollections of those who were on the island when it erupted. On Matt and Lauren Urey, the US honeymooners, and Jesse Langford, the Australian tourist who was there with his parents and sister, the physical scars are immediately obvious. But so too is the trauma they’re still living with, three years on from the disaster.
Compounding that trauma is the knowledge that they should never have been on Whakaari in the first place. While the documentary makes no mention of the charges laid over alleged safety failings leading up to the eruption, nor lawsuits filed against companies involved, the question of why tourists were put in such danger hangs over the entire film. As Matt Urey says, the tour members may have signed safety waivers, but they were never given the chance to make an informed decision about the risks involved.
After years of documentaries about horrific crimes and disasters from elsewhere in the world, it’s somewhat disconcerting to see a local horror story get the Netflix treatment. Thankfully, The Volcano never feels exploitative or sensationalistic, instead treating the tragedy of Whakaari with the seriousness it deserves. One can only hope it inspires reflection on what constitutes acceptable risk in adventure tourism, both here and abroad.