Cocaine Bear (2023) on Netflix
Dee Dee skips school with her friend Henry to paint a waterfall in a Georgia forest, where a black bear has eaten cocaine dropped from a plane. Her mother, Sari, follows.
- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb5.9/10128,536 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes66%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1985, a smuggler drops duffel bags of cocaine from his plane over a Georgia forest, then falls to his death. A black bear eats from the bags and becomes aggressive, attacking hikers Elsa and Olaf. Detective Bob identifies the smuggler's body in Knoxville and traces the missing cocaine to St. Louis kingpin Syd White, who sends his son Eddie and fixer Daveed to recover it. Dee Dee, a middle schooler in northeast Georgia, cuts class with her friend Henry to paint a waterfall, and her mother, the nurse Sari, sets out after them with park ranger Liz and wildlife activist Peter.
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Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Cocaine Bear (2023)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film is loosely inspired by a real 175 lb American black bear that died in December 1985 after eating a duffel bag full of cocaine dropped from a plane by Andrew C. Thornton II, a former narcotics officer and convicted drug smuggler who then jumped to his death with a faulty parachute.
- Stunt performer and actor Allan Henry played the bear, credited as "Bear Performer", using custom-made, meter-long aluminum limb extensions. He wore no tracking markers on his face, but his movements gave animators a crucial reference for the bear's physicality and emotional state.
- The real bear was found three months after its death in northern Georgia beside 40 opened plastic containers of cocaine, and is on display at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington, Kentucky, which named it "Cocaine Bear" in 2015.
- The film's success spawned mockbusters such as Meth Gator and Crackcoon, and a Japanese film released earlier under the title Kanizame Shakurabu was retitled Cocaine Shark to capitalize on it.
- Natalie Holt was reported to be composing the score in February 2022, but Mark Mothersbaugh replaced her that November, his second collaboration with director Elizabeth Banks after Pitch Perfect 2.
