Christian fundamentalist Harold Camping predicted that Judgment Day, aka the end of the world as we know it, would occur on May 21, 2011. Some people in Joplin, Missouri, celebrated as the clock struck midnight that night. But on the day that followed, the prediction seemed prescient; what’s now known as the Joplin tornado touched down the following afternoon, causing immense loss and devastation. The documentary The Twister: Caught in the Storm — through interviews with the city’s residents and the footage they obtained as the storm descended — retraces the mile-wide tornado’s path and the devastation it left in its wake. The film was written and directed by Alexandra Lacey (The Fake Sheikh).

When will The Twister: Caught in the Storm be released?

Stream it now.

Where can I find the trailer for The Twister: Caught in the Storm?

Check it out at the top of this page. 

What happens in The Twister: Caught in the Storm?

When an anomaly showed up on the National Weather Service radar on May 22, 2011, meteorologists took note: a supercell thunderstorm was forming outside Joplin, Missouri, and was on course to merge with another storm nearby. But what followed — a powerful, mile-wide EF5 tornado with 200 mph winds that tore through Missouri’s 12th densest city — took Joplin residents by complete surprise. The documentary interviews storm chasers, weather forecasters, and witnesses to the seventh deadliest tornado on record to recount what it was like to be near — or in — the eye of the storm. 

Is The Twister: Caught in the Storm based on a true story?

Yes, the documentary revisits the EF5 tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011. The tornado caused widespread destruction across the town, injuring more than a thousand people and killing 158, making it one of the deadliest on record. 

Where does The Twister: Caught in the Storm take place?

The documentary was shot in and features footage of Joplin, Missouri. 

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