More than 3,700 people are trapped on a cruise ship as COVID spreads, and they film the whole nightmare on their phones.
Trailer for “The Last Cruise”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Passengers are ordered to stay inside their cabins to stop COVID from spreading. But crew members still have to prep and deliver thousands of meals. Some are sharing tiny, windowless rooms below deck while coworkers get sick.
- A rumor spreads among crew members that the Japanese government might sink the Diamond Princess with everyone still aboard rather than risk bringing the virus ashore.
- By the end of the outbreak, 712 passengers and crew had tested positive for COVID-19. Fourteen people aboard the ship died.
Watch “The Last Cruise”
You can find the latest streaming options for “The Last Cruise” on JustWatch.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 94/100
- IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 62/100 (Users); 100/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Hannah Olson directed this 40-minute documentary short. Instead of recreations, Olson built much of “The Last Cruise” from cell-phone and social-media footage shot by the people trapped on the ship. Olson also directed “Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God” (which I rated 94/100).
Release Date: March 30, 2021
Other Unique Stuff
- The ship has a slogan: “One Team, One Dream.” COVID puts that idea to a pretty brutal test. Passengers and crew may be on the same ship, but they don’t have the same cabins, jobs or ability to isolate.
Wrap Up:
“The Last Cruise” works because we watch people discover COVID before any of us really understood what it was.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc