One Of The Most Disgusting Documentaries Ever Is Crushing It On Netflix's Top Charts

There's nothing quite like a trainwreck, i.e. some disaster so unfortunate that it draws massive attention — after all, it's human nature to gawk. That's the draw behind a series of Netflix documentaries about different metaphorical trainwrecks in our recent history, with entries on both individual trainwrecks, like former Toronto "mayor of mayhem" Rob Ford, and crowd disasters, like the violence that erupted at Woodstock '99 or the 2021 Astroworld Festival tragedy, where a crowd surge led to multiple deaths. These "Trainwreck" docs can really range in tone too, as something like the excellent "Astroworld" documentary is a heartbreaking deep dive into how a fun, exciting moment can turn deadly in an instant. Suffice it to say, the Rob Ford doc is significantly more salacious.

Now, there's a brand new "Trainwreck" on Netflix, and it's definitely the grossest one yet. In fact, it might be one of the grossest documentaries available to stream in general. It all depends on how you deal with scatological stories, because this one's got the scoop on a whole lot of poop (literally).

According to FlixPatrol, Netflix's top 10 movies in the U.S. is currently home to "Trainwreck: Poop Cruise." The doc tells the true story of the Carnival Triumph, a cruise ship that suffered an engine fire while in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, causing the vessel to stop completely dead in the water. It also caused major electrical and plumbing issues onboard, which led to the ship's toilets overflowing into the hallways with raw sewage. (Hence, "poop cruise.") Of course, as fun as it might be to say "poop cruise," and as humorous as it is in theory and retrospect, the actual ordeal was a harrowing nightmare, and the Netflix doc has all of the gritty, gross details.

The thing that makes most of these "Trainwreck" documentaries so compelling are the interviews with various ordinary people who were involved in these extraordinary situations, and "Poop Cruise" is no different. While it's one thing to see video of the sewage spilling into the halls, the firsthand accounts of events hit harder because it's easy to empathize with people's incredulity and shock. While it's a far cry from the depressing horrors of something like "The Last Cruise" (the documentary about the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined at sea during the early days of the Covid pandemic), "Poop Cruise" still has enough nastiness to convince some audiences to never set foot on a cruise ship. (I, for one, will never board one unless the ship's doctor is named Odyssey, thanks.) Both the vacationers and crew were nervous about being trapped at sea in increasingly uncomfortable conditions, trying to combat boredom as well as the ship becoming one big bathroom. When someone in charge decided that the solution was to start serving alcohol for free to try and calm the guests, things got even more out of hand, with some guests even flinging bags of poop overboard only to have them fly back to the ship and land on one of the lower decks.

Perhaps none of the interviewees in "Poop Cruise" stand out more than Abhi, a chef who describes everything very colorfully, his general tone more bemused than anything else. He seems like a really easy-going, friendly man, and when he describes seeing something he describes as a "poop lasagna," it's easily both the doc's grossest and funniest moment. Is "Trainwreck: Poop Cruise" going to really teach you anything or change the world? Absolutely not, but it is an interesting way to spend an hour... as long as you have the stomach for it.