Film
A Plastic Ocean
A Plastic Ocean is a documentary that pursues the plastic crisis from ocean depths to your kitchen. Director Craig Leeson and free-diver Tanya Streeter travel the world examining how plastic pollutes marine ecosystems and enters the food chain. It's urgent without preaching, visual without sensationalism, and designed for people who want to understand a problem before deciding what to do about it.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you want an expedition-style documentary that follows a sailing crew and a diver across open water, where the evidence piles up scene by scene and the mood stays urgent without tipping into lecture.
Skip it if you want a tight, punchy environmental piece; this one wanders through its research, and the repeated shots of debris and the travelogue detours can drag before the argument lands.
What it asks of you: About ninety minutes of steady attention, with long stretches on the water and few quick cuts. It is earnest rather than playful, and it leans on images more than on narration.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
My Octopus Teacher2020
A filmmaker forms a relationship with a wild octopus over a year, exploring ocean intelligence and beauty with stunning cinematography and genuine wonder. The intimate focus makes it deeply human despite being about sea life.
But It's meditative and slow-paced rather than dramatically structured. Some find the personal journey element overshadows the wildlife education.
Blackfish2013
An investigation into orca captivity that combines archive footage, testimony, and marine biology to build an overwhelming case about animal suffering and corporate harm. It's galvanizing without being manipulative.
But The subject matter—animal abuse in an industry many support—can feel accusatory. It's emotionally difficult rather than intellectually distanced.
The Cove2009
A thriller-paced documentary about dolphin hunting in Japan that functions as mystery, activism, and geopolitical argument all at once. Gripping and morally clear without feeling like a lecture.
But It borders on ambush journalism; some viewers find the undercover tactics manipulative rather than justified. Contains graphic footage.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from A Plastic Ocean
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Eternal Memory2023
Both films use the ocean and natural world as a mirror for human crisis—one external and planetary, one internal and deeply personal. Both refuse easy closure.
A Chilean documentary about a couple confronting dementia—one partner's memories fade while the other documents what remains. Filmed in watercolor tones that feel like memory itself. It's about loss, persistence, and the fragility of what we carry.
But The technique is experimental and abstract; the narrative is interior rather than driven by events. Requires patience and tolerance for ambiguity.
More like this (8)
Chasing Ice2012
A photographer documents glacier collapse across years with time-lapse footage that is genuinely awe-struck—you watch ice the size of cities collapse in seconds. Science and art in perfect balance.
But Climate change fatigue is real. The film trusts the visuals over narrative, which can feel thin if you're looking for policy solutions.
Racing Extinction2015
Ocean activist Louis Psihoyos uses undercover work, hidden cameras, and guerrilla art to expose illegal wildlife trafficking and species collapse. It's visually gorgeous and stylishly subversive.
But The slick action-movie tone can feel at odds with the subject. Some scenes prioritize shock value over information.
Our Planet2019
A lavish BBC series narrated by David Attenborough tracking how climate change is destabilizing ecosystems across the globe. Each episode is a masterclass in natural-history filmmaking with profound stakes.
But At nine episodes, the repetition of 'nature is dying' can feel punishing. The scale is so vast it sometimes distances you emotionally from specific crises.
Seaspiracy2021
Two brothers investigate industrial fishing and marine conservation with infectious curiosity and mounting alarm. It's entertaining, visually dynamic, and makes ocean economics comprehensible.
But It oversimplifies some nuances of marine science and has been criticized for selective editing that obscures debate among experts.
Mission Blue2014
Oceanographer Sylvia Earle's passion for marine protected areas is contagious. Beautiful underwater footage combined with intimate portraits of a life devoted to the sea.
But The documentary is more portrait than investigation. It lacks the narrative momentum of a tighter story; some find it gentle to the point of sedation.
Perfect Blue1998
An elegant film that weaves stories from coastal communities worldwide—fishermen, activists, poets—to explore humanity's relationship with the ocean. Poetic without being vague.
But It favors impressionism over concrete argument. If you need data and solutions, this will feel oblique and elusive.
Iris2014
Where A Plastic Ocean asks what we've done to the world through careless consumption, Iris asks what we've done to ourselves through it. Both trace the path of stuff, but from opposite angles.
Documentary about fashion photographer Iris Apfel at 93, bursting with color, confidence, and a lifetime of accumulated beauty. It's about consumption and creation, but celebratory rather than guilty. Pure joy.
But It's a love letter to a life of abundance and acquisition—the opposite of environmentalist restraint. Some find it frivolous given its own uncritical stance.
The Serengeti Rules2018
Both documents systems in collapse—one visible in plastic-choked oceans, one invisible until explained through ecology. Both argue that interconnection is everything.
A four-part series about ecological balance and how removing one species cascades through an entire system. Beautifully animated sequences explain complex biology with genuine clarity and wonder.
But The education-first approach means character and narrative take a backseat. If you want emotion alongside information, the cold delivery will disappoint.
People
Cast
- Craig LeesonSelf
Tanya StreeterSelf
Directing
- Craig LeesonDirector
Writing
- Craig LeesonWriter
- Mindy ElliottWriter
Production
- Craig LeesonExecutive Producer
- Leonardo DiCaprioExecutive Producer
Recommended by
Seaspiracy, Trashed, No Impact Man, Whale Wars, The End of the Line, RiverBlue, Plastic Fantastic, Sea of Shadows, Tapped