In the Heart of the Sea, the “stirring” period drama starring Cillian Murphy and Tom Holland, is due to leave a UK streamer next month.
The 2015 film, which is directed by Ron Howard, depicts the real-life sinking of the Essex in 1820, a whaling ship whose fate inspired the events of Herman Melville’s classic 1851 novel Moby-Dick.
Boasting a stacked cast which also includes Chris Hemsworth and Ben Whishaw, the period drama is currently available to stream in the UK and Ireland on Prime Video, but viewers will have to act soon as it is due to leave the streamer in the next 30 days.
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Considered a box-office bomb after failing to make its budget back, the film also received a mixed response from critics, with Rotten Tomatoes currently reporting an approval rating of 42% in 237 reviews.
“The admirably old-fashioned In the Heart of the Sea boasts thoughtful storytelling to match its visual panache, even if it can’t claim the depth or epic sweep to which it so clearly aspires,” noted the site’s critical consensus.
Warner Bros
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“Some stirring, old-fashioned spectacle helps lift this Moby Dick origins story from what might otherwise have been a watery grave,” noted Screen International, while USA Today called it “immersive” and “gorgeously shot”.
“It’s a Hollywood film in the best sense, unsparing with spectacle, a-roar with conviction and cast, if not with superstars, then with voices and faces that become indelible,” wrote The Financial Times.
Warner Bros.
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The Observer was less enthusiastic, however, saying: “While In the Heart of the Sea has the potential to impress, it remains a flawed vessel which struggles to rise above its theatrical artifice.”
If you need something else to watch on Prime Video, then look no further than Michelle Dockery’s Flight Risk, a tense thriller which surged up the streamer’s film chart earlier this week.
In the Heart of the Sea is streaming on Prime Video.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. Â His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
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