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The Cove

The Cove

Documentary · 2009

The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.

Movie details

The Cove

“Shallow Water. Deep Secret.”

2009 Documentary 1h 32m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

8.4 / 10

52.9K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

95 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

84 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

8.0 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Cove?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Louie Psihoyos

Written by

Mark Monroe

Hayden Panettiere

Hayden Panettiere

Self

J

Joe Chisholm

Self

M

Mandy-Rae Cruikshank

Self

C

Charles Hambleton

Self

S

Simon Hutchins

Self

K

Kirk Krack

Self

Isabel Lucas

Isabel Lucas

Self

Court is in session

Put The Cove on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.