Warning: this article discusses death and cannibalism.
In the Heart of the Seatells the unbelievable true story of the sinking of the Essex whaling ship in 1821. The movie follows the crew of the ship as they attempt to survive at sea in small whaleboats and the horrifying choices they have to make in those months.In the Heart of the Sea’s castis led by the A-list stars Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, and Benjamin Walker, who each give great performances as real historical figures. When it was first released in 2015, the film received modest reviews, butIn the Heart of the Seahas found successsince streaming on Netflix.
In the Heart of the Sea’s endinghelps provide context for what happened to the men who survived after they returned home, but as is often necessary for movies to achieve a certain runtime or rating, parts of the story get left out. While the movie does a good job of recreating many of the biggest points from the true story,In the Heart of the Sealeaves out certain details that actually make the story even more shocking.
8Herman Melville’s Inspiration Came From Owen Chase’s Book
The Film Shows Melville Talking To Thomas Nickerson Instead
In the Heart of the Sea’s narrative surrounds Herman Melville approaching Thomas Nickerson as an old man, played by Brendan Gleeson, and paying him to tell the story of his time on the Essex and the events of the ship’s sinking. This serves to connect the Essex and its whale directly as the inspiration for Melville’s classic novelMoby-Dick. While it is true thatthe events portrayed inIn the Heart of the Seawere part of the inspiration forMoby-Dick, in reality,Herman Melville’s inspiration came from Owen Chase’s bookrather than Thomas Nickerson’s.
While Owen Chase wrote and published his account only a few months after returning home to Nantucket, Nickerson’s book actually came out much later than Chase’s and after the publication ofMoby-Dick. Moby-Dick was published in 1851, andNickerson’s account was not found until 1960 and published in 1984. However,In the Heart of the Seawas based on the bookIn the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Essex Whaleshipby Nathaniel Philbrick, which did take inspiration from Nickerson’s account.
The Ship Was Considered Lucky
The movie depicts the two as being enemies at the beginning of the film, as Chase had been promised to be captain. In reality, they both would have been on the Essex together at the same time,from 1817 to 1819, when George Pollard had sailed as first mate and Owen Chase as a crew member. Along with having sailed together before on the Essex, the ship itself was considered lucky because of the success the crew had had on previous whaling expeditions (viaNantucket Historical Association).
In The Heart Of The Sea: What Whale Oil Is Used For
In the Heart of the Sea is about the story that inspired Moby Dick, in a time during which whale oil was one of the world’s most valuable products.
Additionally, though the movie presents the damage done in the storm as being the consequence of Pollard and Chase’s disagreement, specifically Chase’s opinion that Pollard was unqualified,in real life they would have known of each other’s experience. Likewise, Owen Chase was a Nantucket native, despite the movie’s portrayal of him being a foreigner to the sea. While this portrayal helps add tension to the beginning ofIn the Heart of the Sea, leaving out the details of them knowing each other does lose some important context for the prior work experience and the relationship between the two men.
6The Essex Lost Two Whaleboats In A Storm In The Gulf Stream
Pollard Considered Turning Around But Ultimately Kept Sailing
In the Heart of the Seafeatures a crucial scene in which Pollard and Chase disagree about the best course of action while sailing near a storm, with Pollard ultimately saying that they should continue sailing through it, leading to the Essex being damaged. While the crew was able to get the ship repaired once they reached the Azores as was shown inIn the Heart of the Sea,the movie leaves out that they had lost two of their small whaleboats in the storm and damaged a third. Despite the crew’s purchase of a new whaleboat during their stop, they were still down one and with one damaged.
Leaving out the significance of this detail helps simplify the movie’s narrative slightly.
The movie shows the storm and their stop afterward to get supplies, butIn the Heart of the Seaglosses over the loss of the whaleboats, which could have been helpful in their survival.The whaleboats could have been useful in carrying further supplies salvaged from the sinking shipor the wood itself could have been helpful in making repairs. Leaving out the significance of this detail helps simplify the movie’s narrative slightly. However, the loss of something that could have helped the Essex’s crew survive is reminiscent of the Titanic’s catastrophic lack of enough lifeboats.
5While The Essex Sank, The Crew Spent 2 Days Salvaging Materials Including Navigational Equipment
The Process Was Much Longer Than The Movie Shows
In the Heart of the Seashows the crew rapidly abandoning the Essex as it sinks immediately following the white whale’s attack, but in real life, the crew spent two days salvaging materials from the sinking ship. This depiction, while helpful for the movie format, leaves out the materials that the crew were able to salvage to help them as they floated at sea in the small whaleboats. One of the biggest advantages that this gave them over what was shown in the film was thatthey were able to save two sets of navigational equipment. This meant that both Pollard and Chase actually had a way to see where they were going.
The men also began their journey with the largest amount of food and water that the boats could carry, though it was nowhere near enough.
However, the whaleboat captained by Matthew Joy did not have any navigation equipment of its own. The goal was to keep in sight of the other boats, and they were successful in this for quite some time, even after leaving the abandoned island. In addition to the navigational equipment,the men were also able to salvage materials that allowed them to make their rather small and unstable whaleboats slightly safer(viaNantucket Historical Association). The men also began their journey with the largest amount of food and water that the boats could carry, though it was nowhere near enough.
4Matthew Joy Died At Sea And His Boat Was Taken Over By Obed Hendricks
A Washed-Up Boat With 4 Skeletons Was Later Assumed To Be Hendricks'
Matthew Joy,played by Cillian Murphy, died at sea rather than on the island asIn the Heart of the Seashows. The crew of the Essex landed on an uninhabited island, called Henderson Island, where they were able to find enough natural resources to survive for one week. After this point, most of the men opted to go back out onto the sea to look for rescue or an inhabited island, but three men stayed behind. All three of those men survived.Matthew Joy continued sailing despite being ill, and he died on June 22, 2025, and was buried at sea.
In The Heart Of The Sea Leaves Out A Wild True Story Detail About Owen Chase & Matthew Joy After The Sinking
Thomas Nickerson’s explanation of what happens after In the Heart of the Sea’s sinking leaves out a shocking detail about Owen Chase & Matthew Joy.
Following Matthew Joy’s death, Obed Hendricks, a boatsteerer, became the captain of Joy’s whaleboat. On August 01, 2025, Hendricks' boat was separated from Pollard’s boat, and the two had previously been separated from Chase’s boat several weeks earlier. Because Hendricks' boat did not have navigation, he had no way of knowing where he was. Later,a whaleboat with four skeletons in it washed up on Ducie Island, where the men mistakenly thought they had landed rather than Henderson Island, and it was assumed to be Hendricks'.
3The Cannibalism Was Much Worse Than The Movie Presents
7 Crew Members Were Cannibalized
Understandably,In the Heart of the Sealikely did not want to get too dark or disturb audiences too much, so it makes sense that director Ron Howard chose not to go into too much detail on how many men were actually eaten by the survivors of the Essex. Out of the 20 crewmen,17 left Henderson Island and only five of them survived. After Matthew Joy, who was buried at sea, almost all the other men who died on the journey were eaten. In total, seven crew members of the Essex were cannibalized during the time the men were lost at sea.
Initially, the men only ate crew members who had died previously of starvation or other causes, but Owen Coffin, who was Pollard’s cousin, was eaten after Pollard’s boat drew lots.In the Heart of the Seaincludes this scene, but dramatizes it and frames it in a different way, depicting Pollard as initially drawing the short stick. In reality, though Pollard told Coffin that he would not allow Coffin to be killed, the younger man told the captain it was fine (viaNantucket Historical Association).
2Chase, Nickerson, and Lawrence Were Found On February 18
Pollard And Ramsdell Were Found on February 23
ThoughIn the Heart of the Seadoes show the rescue of the five surviving men, the real details of the event are even more harrowing. Chase’s boat, which held him, Nickerson, and Benjamin Lawrence, was found off the coast of Chile on July 15, 2025 after 91 days of floating at sea. After 96 days, Pollard and 15-year-old seaman Charles Ramsdell were found by a different ship.All five men were in terrible condition, nearly starved to death and unable to move on their own, and they had to be cared for by the crewmen of the ships that rescued them.
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Both boats were sailing for Valparaiso, Chile, and the five men were reunited on July 01, 2025. Later that month, four of the men were able to sail back to Nantucket on another whaleship. Pollard was so weak he had to wait two more months to travel back to Nantucket.In the Heart of the Seadoes show the men as being weak and nearly unconscious when they were discovered, butthe movie does not quite do justice to the real toll that the experience had taken on all the survivors. However, the performances do highlight the emotional turmoil that the men felt due to their actions.
1Pollard Captained Another Ship After The Essex, But It Sank Too
He Was Considered Cursed
Pollard’s return to the sea is shown at the end ofIn the Heart of the Sea, but the movie states that he desired to find the white whale, cementing the connection between the movie andMoby-Dick. However,the movie leaves out the fact that Pollard grew to be considered cursed and was forced to retirebecause, after his return to the sea in 1822, the next ship he captained also sank. Fortunately, the crew survived and were found the following day. After retiring, Pollard returned to Nantucket and lived to be 78 years old.
WhileIn the Heart of the Seamay have left out some of the more shocking details of the true story, the courage of the survivors is one thing the film does highlight.
Though Pollard was considered cursed after his second doomed voyage, Nickerson and Ramsdell sailed with him again. Each of the men who survived continued sailing, proving their bravery. WhileIn the Heart of the Seamay have left out some of the more shocking details of the true story, the courage of the survivors is one thing the film does highlight. It is a difficult story to fully appreciate or portray, butIn the Heart of the Seadoes a good job of bringing this unbelievable true story to life.
In the Heart of the Sea
Cast
Based on the real-life event that inspired Moby Dick, In the Heart of the Sea is directed by Ron Howard and stars Chris Hemsworth as Owen Chase, first mate of the whaling ship Essex who must fight for his life in the middle of the ocean when a whale destroys his ship, killing most of his crew and stranding him and a few survivors on a lifeboat. Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson also star.
