The true story behind Netflix film Blue Miracle
The real-life events that served as inspiration for the Netflix fishing movie.
The world of competitive fishing might not necessarily seem like the most obvious backdrop for an uplifting family film, but brand new Netflix movie Blue Miracle has recently debuted on the streamer to some solid reviews.
The film tells the tale of a group of children and their guardian, who turn to a fishing contest in a bid to save their orphanage – with a little help from a washed-up boat captain.
Holywood legend Dennis Quaid and The Walking Dead star Jimmy Gonzales lead the cast, and in a recent interview with PureWow Quaid described the film as "very uplifting, and I think that’s what we need these days."
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The film is a dramatisation of the incredible true story of Team Casa Hogar – a group of amateurs who won their first-ever competitive fishing tournament in 2014 and donated every penny of their significant winnings.
Named after the Mexican orphanage at which the members lived, the team was comprised of several orphans and their legal guardian, Omar Venegas, who were desperate to raise funds after Casa Hogar had been devastated by the impact of the recent Hurricane Odile.
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The orphans in the team were named Juan Anaya, Eduardod Arnaut, Jonathan Bernal, Geovanny Cabanas, Ramon Carmona, Alan Galindo, Jose Galindo, and Moises Manriques – and none of them had any prior fishing experience.
Against all odds, the team managed to catch a 385-pound blue marlin at the world-famous Bisbee’s Black & Blue Tournament – which fetched them a whopping prize of $258,325, all of which went directly into the orphanage fund.
The tournament came just weeks after Hurricane Odile, which had forced roughly 92 per cent of those living on the southern half of Mexico's Baja California peninsula to lose power and had caused significant damage throughout the region.
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Before the tournament, an anonymous donor agreed to pay the entry fees for all teams that paid to use a local boat – and without this act of philanthropy, Team Casa Hogar would not have been able to compete.
In an interview with Netflix, the real-life Omar Venegas – who was himself responsible for catching the winning fish – said, "I want everyone to have the opportunity to see Casa Hogar and how God is doing his work."
Despite largely being based on the true story, there is no indication that Captain Wade Malloy, the character played by Dennis Quaid, is actually a real person. According to History vs Hollywood, this character is actually a heavily fictionalised version of a real man named Ernie Cossio, who runs a successful charter fishing business and whose boat Mucho Bueno was used by Team Casa Hogar for the contest.
And in fact the film also leaves out some real-life aspects of the story – such as the fact that Venegas almost missed out on the tournament after he was involved in a car crash just days before.
Speaking about that incident, the real Venegas said, "[God] made sure I was in the tournament. Things happen on God’s plan. God always gives his blessings wholly, He never gives just half."
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