Chasing Coral

2017

1 hr. 33 min.

Documentary

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100%

33 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. Divers, photographers and scientists set out on an ocean adventure to discover why the reefs are disappearing and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.

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Critics Consensus

Chasing Coral offers a breathtakingly beautiful look at some of the Earth's most incredible natural wonders while delivering a sobering warning about their uncertain future.

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My cat is my bestie s

"Chasing Coral" is a film by Jeff Orlowski. It focuses on the bleaching of coral and the negative effects that it has on marine life and marine ecosystems. A group of divers and scientists are the main people shown in the film, and they go around the world to show the decline of coral reefs. Climate change and its negative effects are discussed. Also, human activities are mentioned and how they are causing the decline in coral reefs. Rising ocean temperatures, acidification, and pollution are causing the corals to bleach. That means that the corals are losing color and dying. The film discusses how quickly the coral reefs are declining, and how marine life depends on them. There are also people who depend on them for income.  I think that this movie did a pretty good job at educating the viewer on what is happening to coral reefs all over the world. The movie shows beautiful shots of the ocean's coral reefs before and after the bleaching, so it really shows the viewer how bad it has truly gotten. Not only are visuals shown of the reefs, but scientific explanations are also given to help the viewers learn more about relationships between organisms and corals. Local interviews are also done with people that depend on the coral reefs. This makes the viewer feel empathetic towards them. I really like how the film gives a call to action for the viewers and inspires them to help make change occur in our oceans to help stop the large amount of coral bleaching. This movie honestly made me sad, because it just shows the reality of the coral reefs that are dying. Fish, sea urchins, starfish, etc. rely on coral reefs for shelter and food. Knowing that their locations for these things are becoming limited is sad to see. I do know that some organisms can continue to live on the dead coral reefs, but the number of marine lives using the reefs has-and is going to greatly reduce. 

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/24

Full Review

Cem Y

Simply beautiful but so saddening. It is so difficult to see what we are doing to other creatures, but we need constant exposure to such productions to really understand our role in all this destruction.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/21/23

Full Review

Kasandra M

Chasing Coral is an excellent documentary that effectively captures the unfortunate issue of the dying coral reefs in the oceans. While it has a bit of a slow start, the emotional journey that follows is worth it. It's evident that a lot of passion and care was put into documenting this seemingly hopeless situation where the coral reefs, fundamental organisms in the ecosystem of underwater life, were dying through a process called coral bleaching. It's explained that this is occurring because of global warming, a prominent issue today despite the documentary being made in 2017. The emotional element in the film comes from the internal and external conflicts that the divers and scientists experience, and paired with the devastating visuals of the dead coral reefs, makes quite the impactful statement. Despite the struggle to reverse the damage, the story ends with a hint of change and redemption through education and action that leaves the viewer with hope for the future of the coral reefs. I recommend this eye-opening documentary to anyone who is looking to be inspired to take action for the environment.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/06/22

Full Review

No doubt, Best coral documentary, open my mind, touching, gloomy, lovely. There is a novel "Hide girl" that wrote a story about the future mutation of coral. It can adapt to higher temperatures, and the colors are incredible, like the one brought to the end of the documentary. worth seeing

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/02/22

Full Review

Audience Member

I very much enjoyed the movie Chasing Coral. It was very informative, and its appeals to emotion were incredibly moving. The movie did a very good job of explaining complex things in an easily understandable way, and I greatly enjoyed learning about how coral reefs operate and how bleaching works. They also showed lots of relevant figures and had many experts give their statements, which added validity to the film. My favorite example of this was the interview with Charlie Vernon because I liked getting to see the opinion of someone who has been in this field for many years and knows what coral reefs were like before bleaching. I liked the parts where they talked about their struggles with the camera because it made the film much more relatable. It puts the researchers in perspective as real people who have problems and don't know all the answers. As I stated previously, the film's emotion was what really made it. The researchers stated how they wanted to leave emotions out, but it was impossible not to be emotional when they were watching an ecosystem die in front of them. Their emotions made their plea to care for the coral so much more significant.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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Matthew B

Honestly disappointed they weren't down in the ocean more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/20/21

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Jeff Orlowski

Director

Andrew Ackerman

Actor

Davis Coombe

Writer

Jeff Orlowski

Writer

Vickie Curtis

Writer

Jill K. Ahrens

Executive Producer

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Chasing Coral: Trailer 1

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Bilge Ebiri

Spirituality & Health

Jeff Orlowski's suspenseful and heartbreaking documentary focuses on the phenomenon of "coral bleaching"-the process by which dying corals turn white and fall apart.

Mar 23, 2020

Full Review

Brad Newsome

Sydney Morning Herald

Which makes it all the more surprising that the documentary ends on the optimistic note that it does.

Mar 29, 2018

Full Review

Kristen Lopez

Spectrum Culture

A story of passionate pioneers who love reefs becomes a clarion call for change and one of the year's most essential movies.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 20, 2017

Full Review

Ruth Maramis

FlixChatter Film Blog

Through time-lapse and stunning underwater photography, we get an eye-opening look at what’s happening to our ocean’s backbone without descending into a politicized debate about climate change.

Rated: 4/5

May 1, 2023

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Brett Michael Dykes

Uproxx

There's no denying this one, no looking away, and Orlowski's crew takes full advantage of that.

Dec 29, 2021

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Laura Davis

One Room With A View

Best of all is the time-lapse imagery of the rapid death of these vast ecosystems. The discoveries made are astonishing; this is a call to action that delivers hyperbole after hyperbole. It must be seen to be believed.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 4, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. Divers, photographers and scientists set out on an ocean adventure to discover why the reefs are disappearing and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.

Director: Jeff Orlowski
Executive Producer: Jill K. Ahrens, Ryan W. Ahrens, David J. Cornfield
Screenwriter: Davis Coombe, Jeff Orlowski, Vickie Curtis
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 15, 2017

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