Unbelievable true story behind Netflix’s horrifying disaster film

A Netflix disaster movie leaving viewers horrified is actually based on an unbelievable true story.

Viewers have been flocking to social media in shock after watching a disaster movie which has recently come onto Netflix.

However, you'll be even more horrified to learn the movie is actually based on real events.

Netflix

Directed by Richard Holm and written by Holm, Robin Sherlock Holm, and Nicola Sinclair, the movie focuses on a town in Sweden called Kiruna which is slowly sinking, leaving its residents in danger and needing to flee.

Despite only recently coming onto the streaming service, the disaster movie has already seen itself mentioned in LADbible's 'Netflix Bangers' Facebook group.

One user said: "Yes watched this last night and yes, it's a sitting on the edge of your seat kinda movie."

"Watching it now. So far so good," another added.

And wait until they realise the movie is actually based on a real place and story.

Catch the trailer here:

Indeed, as Netflix Tudum notes, while the film - titled The Abyss - 'is fictional,' 'the sinking town of Kiruna, Sweden, and the mine located there, are real'.

So what happened? Well, on 18 May, 2020, an earthquake shook northern Sweden.

The epicenter of the earthquake was at the 'mining company LKAB's mines in Kiruna' and according to Geoforskning, measured a magnitude of 4.9.

The website explains the earthquake was considered 'man-made' or 'induced' - a fact later confirmed by NORSAR seismologist Volker Oye.

Basically, when miners take out a material from the rock, 'elastic stresses adjust' and this can lead to rocks creaking, also known as 'microquakes' which can then grow larger and lead to earthquakes and risk tunnels collapsing and miners ending up trapped inside.

LKAB said in a press release at the time: "[Translation] The settlements were strongly felt both in society and underground, which is why the mine in Kiruna was evacuated. These occurred at 03.11 in the bed wall, block 22, 1108 meter balancing level. At the time, 13 people were underground and they were evacuated."

Netflix

A seismologist at Uppsala University told local newspaper Aftonbladet the earth was 'the most powerful' the country had seen since 2008.

And many mines have since installed networks of sensors in their underground tunnels to keep track of the stresses and microquakes so they can be alerted when the rock around them is particularly unstable and its miners need to evacuate.

Since the earthquake, the Kiruna mine has been undergoing a demolition and relocation project - the town being rebuilt two miles away as per Netflix.

It's hoped the project will be completed by 2035.