Just over two years ago, an unusual rescue mission rocked the world. On June 18, 2023, a group of five wealthy people, led by businessman Stockton Rush, set out in a deep-sea submersible called тιтan on a dive to see the тιтanic wreckage. But then, around the 90-minute mark into their dive, the team lost contact with the surface. What ensued was a multi-day rescue mission covered by international news sources, where the U.S. Coast Guard and other groups tried to locate this crew of explorers, only to later find wreckage that indicated the vessel had already imploded.

Fast-forward to 2025, and Netflix has made a documentary тιтled тιтan: The OceanGate Disaster. The film takes a close look at Rush and his allegedly innovative (but logistically life-risking) company OceanGate, which created the submersible that led to this disaster. A few months after the tragedy, there were already talks about a movie adaptation covering the тιтan disaster, but this narrative and fictionalized version has yet to be released. While it’s a story that many have heard a lot about, тιтan: The OceanGate Disaster is worth catching on Netflix.

тιтan: The OceanGate Disaster Is A New Documentary Dominating Netflix’s Charts

Filmmaker Mark Monroe Has Done It Again

тιтan: The OceanGate Disaster is directed by Mark Monroe, who is a skilled and experienced documentarian. He has been on the research and writing team for other thrilling documentaries, including Oscar winners The Cove and Icarus. As such, the streamer managed to get a really confident and experienced person in the field behind this documentary. Netflix also took their time with the documentary, releasing it close to a major anniversary of the disaster, but waiting long enough to take their time developing the research.

What Monroe has done with the тιтan documentary is working because the film is currently dominating the streamer’s charts. The movie has been trending in Netflix’s streaming charts since its debut. On June 14, just three days after its June 11 release to the platform, тιтan: The OceanGate Disaster was no. 3 on the United States charts, where it remained for several days. The film’s persistence on these charts shows that the story still feels relevant and engaging to viewers, even two years after the news story broke.

тιтan: The OceanGate Disaster Has A Gripping & Emotional Story

It Mostly Covers The Leadup To The Disaster

There are two main narratives at hand when it comes to the тιтan documentary. Firstly, there is the story of the fallout of this mission, which led to a thorough investigation that was partially run by the U.S. Coast Guard. As the text on screen reveals at the end of the film, this investigation is ongoing, and thus is not the main arc of the тιтan: The OceanGate Disaster‘s story. The second narrative, which the documentary focuses more heavily on, surrounds the lead-up to тιтan‘s creation and all of OceanGate’s mishaps along the way.

This story is a fascinating element to this tale, as most audiences have seen more about the fallout circulating in the news than the specifics of what led up to this. The story is also emotional for several people involved, as Monroe and his team interview former OceanGate employees who are horrified by both what they were involved in and how things devolved, as well as the daughter of French explorer and OceanGate disaster victim P.H. Nargeolet. These interviews make for a completely gripping tale.

Why You Need To Watch Netflix’s OceanGate Documentary

The Access To Footage Is Insane

As someone who followed the тιтan news closely both during and after the search for the main team, I did not know whether the Netflix documentary would feel like old news at that point. It doesn’t. I was impressed by the access to footage this team had, and its inclusion is a testament to how much time the streamer put into this. Netflix benefited from the fact that Rush had envisioned filmmaking as a key part of OceanGate’s mission and publicity. As such, the documentary team could feature real footage from previous OceanGate expeditions.

Rush was also heavily involved in the media before the тιтan disaster, so the film can use past interviews. Showing his hubris and the arrogance that led to his huge missteps, the documentary is a pretty harsh retrospective on his life. Nonetheless, the editing fascinatingly unwinds the story, showing how Rush’s need for control gradually led to the firing of nearly all of his main team, including his engineers. It is no surprise that тιтan: The OceanGate Disaster has been well-received, as it is a really great example of an investigative journalism-influenced documentary done right.