The Twister Caught in the Storm: Release Date, True Story and Trailer - Netflix Tudum

  • Deep Dive

    What to Know About The Twister: Caught in the Storm

    The documentary film from Alexandra Lacey revisits the historic 2011 Joplin tornado.

    By Ingrid Ostby
    March 19, 2025

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).

Popular Now

  • The Bombing of Pan Am 103 Cast Guide: Meet the Investigators and Townspeople
    Three solemn people in black coats holding flower arrangements stand in a cemetery, surrounded by gravestones and green trees, attending a funeral on a cloudy day.

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

Stream it now.

A man in a gray and black hooded jacket and a backward baseball cap looks at the camera in in a still image from ‘The Twister: Caught in the Storm.’

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. 

A shot of a television broadcasting weather forecaster Doug Heady’s storm coverage in a still image from ‘The Twister: Caught in 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. 

Award-Winning Documentaries to Stream NowReady to feel inspired?

 

Related Tags

Shop The Twister: Caught in the Storm

Go to Netflix Shop

Based on What You Watched

  • 15 Walking Dead Episodes to Help You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse
    Take a walk(er) down memory lane and relive these unforgettable moments.
  • A doctor has an affair with his son’s girlfriend in this sexy British series.
  • Tobias Santelmann and Joel Kinnaman star in the Nordic noir series.
  • Skyscraper Live thrills, and Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart is a riveting survival tale.
  • Here’s everything to know about the action film from Gareth Evans. 
  • A doctor has an affair with his son’s girlfriend in this hot and heavy British series.
  • Tobias Santelmann and Joel Kinnaman star in the twisty noir thriller.
  • Viewers also pressed play on Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials and His & Hers.

Deep Dive

  • Get ready to get real with the social media phenom and her family.
  • Jacob Tremblay, Russell Crowe, and Shailene Woodley star in Janus Metz’s film.
  • A killer with a refined palette meets a criminal profiler in this drama.
  • Revisit the series’ trysts, treasures, and tragedies before it returns Aug. 20.
  • Hear from the lead actors about their characters’ fates.
  • New series Instadocs answers the burning questions on everyone’s minds.

Documentary

  • They include AD’s home tours, BuzzFeed’s “Worth It,” and many more.
  • The series from Skye Borgman and Joe Berlinger peels back the 2022 case.
  • Stream Spider-Man, Ex Machina, Home Improvement, and more before the month ends.
  • Plus Badly in Love, Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy, Speed, Annie, and more.
  • Avedon revisits the photographer’s storied career with access to his archive.  
  • Delve into stories about unforgettable victims, mysteries, and twisted minds.

Popular Now

  • The series returns with Josh Duhamel, Minka Kelly, and legend Patricia Clarkson.