Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster is a chilling reminder of what happens when hubris dives deeper than reason.

Directed and produced by Pamela Gordon, this BBC and Discovery Channel cproduction methodically reconstructs the 2023 OceanGate Titan tragedy, where five lives were lost in a catastrophic implosion during a dive to the Titanic wreck.

Gordon’s film, unlike the sub, is sharp and tightly built.

It draws on exclusive access to the U.S. Coast Guard investigation and presents some haunting audio from the support ship Polar Prince, which recorded the silence that followed the loss of contact with Titan.

From there, Implosion unpacks how this dive ever got approved. Engineers, former OceanGate staffers, and marine experts give damning testimony about the sub’s flaws—chief among them Stockton Rush’s insistence on using carbon fiber for a hull meant to withstand crushing pressures miles beneath the ocean surface.

Rush’s own words, captured in archival interviews where he openly dismisses standard safety practices, prove more revealing than any commentary. The documentary wisely lets them speak for themselves.

The film also gives space to the personal loss. Christine Dawood, who lost her husband and son aboard Titan, provides an unflinching account of the human cost of this disaster. Her testimony adds weight without tipping into melodrama.

If the documentary has a shortfall, it is its lack of a broader dive into how regulatory gaps allowed OceanGate to operate with so little oversight. It touches on the issue but leaves much unsaid. For a film that deals so effectively with engineering failures and personal tragedy, this missing piece stands out.

Still, Implosion is a strong, unvarnished work. It doesn’t sensationalize. It doesn’t overreach.

It tells the story like the Titanic’s fate—cold and clear.