Credit: Netflix

Acapulco: A place that instantly reminds you of sunshine, beaches, that gorgeous Pacific coastline… Someplace that you’d spend a week with your feet up and not a care in the world. Well, the Mexican city has been a holiday favourite for ages, but what happened there in October 2023 was the stuff of nightmares. To remind you of the same, Surviving Hurricane Otis on Netflix takes you back to that horrible night when the whole place was battered by one of the worst storms Mexico had seen.

You won’t believe it, but Hurricane Otis went from a tropical storm to a Category 5 beast in less than a day. Winds reached 165 mph within minutes, and if that wasn’t enough, buildings got torn apart, while at least 52 people lost their lives. No amount of warning would’ve helped on such short notice.

Now, Surviving Hurricane Otis follows two half-brothers, Wirpul (Benny Emmanuel) and Candi (Kristyan Ferrer), who aren’t on the best of terms when all this begins. They are working for this wealthy man called Nico, and as the hurricane heads towards Acapulco, the brothers find themselves stuck on his fancy yacht out at sea.

And that expensive yacht they are risking their lives for… It doesn’t even belong to them! Their boss owns the bloody thing, yet it’s these two poor boys who have to put their necks on the line to protect it. The rich man just gets to worry about his precious boat while the people working for him are fighting for their lives. And the worst part is, this isn’t some imaginary story cooked up for this survival thriller. Workers being expected to protect their employers’ property was part of the sad reality of Hurricane Otis.

And as if being stuck in the middle of the ocean with a monster storm coming wasn’t enough, these two brothers have got years of bad blood between them. You’ve got waves threatening to swallow the boat, and now you’ve got to depend on the one man you can barely stand.

Now, before you go thinking every single part of this happened to two brothers in real life, hang on because the film takes a few liberties with the story. It draws inspiration from Marlon Valdez and Jonathan Chino, two sailors who survived Hurricane Otis aboard separate vessels. They were friends, not brothers, and that whole family feud is something the filmmakers added to the drama.

And you’ve got to give director Jorge Michel Grau some credit for the work that went into making this thing. The production team built a massive water tank at Churubusco Studios in Mexico City to recreate the storm, with hundreds of visual-effects specialists helping bring the whole nightmare to life.

And that’s the thing about Surviving Hurricane Otis. Sure, you’ve got the enormous waves, but there is something depressing about the whole situation that deserves your attention. These men were risking their lives to save boats belonging to people with more money than sense. And you can admire their courage all you like, but you’ve got to wonder why protecting someone else’s expensive toys was worth putting human lives in danger.

Netflix viewers seem to have taken a shine to it, mind you. The film pulled in 14 million views during its debut week on the charts and shot to the top of the global non-English film list. Of course, big numbers don’t mean it’s a masterpiece, but the film has got people talking, and that’s all you need to know.

So, if you fancy a survival thriller, give Surviving Hurricane Otis a go.