Deepwater Horizon explores riggers' side of the story

Paying tribute to both the victims and survivors of 2010's massive BP oil spill was the goal of the team behind Deepwater Horizon.

Directed by Peter Berg, the new thriller tells the story of the men and women working on the oil rig in the hours before the explosion and what they faced in what would eventually become the largest offshore oil spill in history.

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Deepwater Horizon explores riggers side of the story

8 years ago

Duration 1:37

In their new thriller, director Peter Berg and actors Mark Wahlberg, Kate Hudson and Kurt Russell aim to honour the victims and survivors of the massive BP oil spill.

"We wanted to honour the 11 that lost their lives,"actor Mark Wahlberg told CBC News earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the movie had its world premiere.

"Not a lot of attention was paid to the loss of human life. And for me that was the big reason for wanting to tell the story."

In the video above, Berg, Wahlberg and castmates Kate Hudson and Kurt Russell discuss the impact the disaster had on the real-life oil rig workers and their families.

Deepwater Horizonis the kind of film that can spark important conversations, according to Russell.

"Movies like this, I think, ask: 'Did you do everything? Or were corners cut?And if they were cut, why?Did you learn from that and move on and try to become safer and better at it?'"

Deepwater Horizon opens in theatres Friday.