A controversial portrait of a serial killer — one who's still alive and weighs 5,400kg. Tilikum is a bull orca who's been in captivity for 30 years, performing tricks in front of adoring crowds at the marine park Seaworld and, before that, Sealand. Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s why-dunnit uses testimony from ex-Seaworld trainers and whale experts to explore his attacks on three humans, which were all — apparently — brushed under the carpet by his owners. Tilikum was too big (and too valuable) to fail.
Seaworld doesn’t want you to see this documentary, calling it “inaccurate and misleading”. Yet, even if the lachrymose, New-Age trainers become a little tiring (why are people so much soppier about the abuse of smart, as opposed to dumb, animals?) the argument itself couldn’t be more convincing. Cruelty begets cruelty and whales don’t belong in the circus.
