Movie synopsis from the official website:
OCEAN WITH DAVID ATTENBOROUGH takes viewers on a breath-taking journey showing there is nowhere more vital for our survival, more full of life, wonder, or surprise, than the ocean.
The celebrated broadcaster and filmmaker reveals how his lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery. Through spectacular sequences featuring coral reefs, kelp forests and the open ocean, Attenborough shares why a healthy ocean keeps the entire planet stable and flourishing.
Stunning, immersive cinematography showcases the wonder of life under the seas and exposes the realities and challenges facing our ocean as never-before-seen, from destructive fishing techniques to mass coral reef bleaching. Yet the story is one of optimism, with Attenborough pointing to inspirational stories from around the world to deliver his greatest message: the ocean can recover to a glory beyond anything anyone alive has ever seen.
I think it is safe to say that no one has had a more profound influence on my love for nature than sir David Attenborough. His documentaries have inspired me throughout my entire life, and I know for a fact that I am not alone in this sentiment. His documentaries and his books always inspire me to take action and I really do believe that these were a huge influence on why I went and pursued the career that I have. Whilst my day to day work does not directly relate to the work on nature conservation, it does allow me to join important conversations in these fields and to help be a part of the change that is needed.
This documentary is a specialist movie that was originally released for cinemas in May 2025, but as of 8 June 2025, it is now available to stream. I watched it on Disney+, purely because the movie was not showing at any cinema close to where I live, so I had to be very patient and wait for this to come to me. As it is a movie, there is the small caveat that it obviously cannot go into as much detail as his other documentaries do, as he essentially only has one hour and 20 minutes to focus on the most important aspects, and whilst it is quite short by today’s standards for a movie run time, it used it’s time incredible well.
I will warn you that I think this movie held no punches. I did find some scenes very hard to watch and that is something I am not used to seeing in his type of documentaries. Yes, there are hard scenes, but they are usually of animals and their fight for survival, but this movie very much focuses on the impact that we as humans are having on the oceans. The movie itself is beautifully shot, with some truly gorgeous scenes of ocean life and some very powerful images, but there were also some very haunting images that I will not forget anytime soon: The footage on bottom trawling was horrifying to watch, and the stark contrast between the before and after images truly did make me catch my breath with the shock of it all. Yet I think that is why it is all so important, because the movie does not hide away from the horrors that are happening beneath the ocean surface and without this footage, it is very unlikely that the reality would ever be broadcast. There are also some heart-breaking images on the impact of industrial fishing practices, including a very sobering image of dead sharks on the end of baited hooks as part of the shark fin fishing industry. Images that are very hard to look at, but also incredibly hard to forget, and I think that is very important.
Yet somehow the movie is also very hopeful and uses real world examples as part of small case studies throughout. For example, the movie discusses how the protection of the oceans can help lead to more sustainable practices within the ocean, and the case study used is that of Papahānaumokuākea in Hawaii. This huge stretch of ocean was protected due to the campaigning work of local fisherman and community elders, and the movie discusses how quickly the ocean area was able to recover from the impacts of commercial fishing in less than ten years. The case study highlights how quickly the ocean can recover when it is given the chance to do so, and other case studies were given to show that Papahānaumokuākea is not a one off occurrence. The movie makes it very clear that not only is ocean recovery possible, it is also a relatively quick process, with some areas being able to bounce back from complete devastation to a thriving ecosystem in less than 5 years. It also talks about the whaling ban, and how quickly the whale populations were able to recover when the correct protections were put in place.
The message of this movie is very clear, and yet it also sounds like common sense. The movie makes it clear that how we currently fish and how we currently treat the ocean is not sustainable, but that there are sustainable solutions, again that are actually very simple and very effective in practice. I am sure we are all aware of the politics that come with any sort of environmental protection plan, but the movie makes it clear that this isn’t really something that needs to be debated: protect the ocean and the ocean will repair itself without any need for us humans to do anything else.
This movie was a very effective call to action. There were parts where I cried and parts where I felt such a seething rage deep in my bones that I ended the movie ready to march on parliament to campaign for ocean protection zones. Plus, if the legendary Sir David Attenborough is asking me to take action, you best believe I am doing what I am told! Sir David is a man who is currently 99 years old (!!) and I don’t think I need to explain how much this man has seen of the world during those years. The movie does highlight how much he has seen, with the focus being on how much things have changed for the good and for the bad. Whilst he has seen incredible leaps forward in marine exploration, from scuba gear to research projects across the globe, he has also seen how quickly we as a species have decimated ocean habitats and disrupted multiple ecosystems, all because we are taking more than we need.
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