Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna

First off, I would like to start with this documentary was filmed very well. I think it was very careful and what they put in the documentary and what they left out and they leave a lot for you to make your own assumptions, but it does contain live footage interviews and it covers a very sensitive story that everyone knows because it was all over the news for months and it's still ongoing. I'm very excited to see if there's gonna be a part two covering trials and stuff like that after it's all said and done.

I dislike how the story of Halyna was covered in this documentary and I hope they find justice for her life. She was very good at her job and this film will shine some light on the tragedy in a positive way.

As "Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna" (2025 release; 90 min) opens, it is "October 2021" and we are on the set of a western movie. The unthinkable happens and Alec Baldwin accidentally shoots a live bullet, killing the movie's Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins and wounding the film's director Joel Souza. How did this happen? Rachel Mason, who directed this documentary, informs us that Halyna's husband has asked her to make a film about Halyna's life (and I cannot do that if I don't understand how she died". At this point, we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: I was generally aware of this story as it was in the headlines everywhere when this happened. But I was completely unaware of the details behind it, and this documentary fills most of those holes, while at the same time reflecting on Halyna's life and works. The film makers apparently found a bunch of unseen footage that was shot on the movie set in New Mexico, which is quite helpful. And while certainly the neglect and/or incompetency of several people at undeniable, the bigger picture is that the entire production was being done "on the cheap", cutting corners (including safety corners) left and right, time and again. Just the day before the fatal shooting happened a number of the film crew walked off the set, concerned about the unresolved safety issues on the set. Yet everyone plowed on, And then it was too late. Let's be clear: this is an immensely tragic loss of life, completely preventable. There are only losers in this tragedy. Kudos to the film makers for bringing us this documentary.

"Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna" started streaming on Hulu a week or so ago, and I watched it the other night. If you wonder what actually happened that led to the death of a film maker on the set of Rust (and the aftermath of those events), I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

This was an interesting examination of an on-set tragedy, but they could have put more focus on Halyna Hutchins herself. The director mentions at the beginning of the film that Halyna's husband asked her to make a film about her life--this doesn't feel like that film. We get bits and pieces of Hutchins' life and work--details such as growing up in the Arctic Circle and loving to watch movies, that her mother still lives in Ukraine, and that Halyna was a rising cinematographer, wife, and mother--all of which make you want to know more. It's evident she was a passionate artist and her loss means so much to her family and fellow filmmakers. And undoubtedly it would have been hard to include so many details in an hour and a half documentary, but you come away with the feeling that the world--and even we as viewers--never really saw who she was.

As an examination of the on-set shooting and aftermath, the film does a decent job of interviewing crew members, investigators, and showing bodycam footage from that day. The documentary does give you multiple perspectives of the event. One surprising detail that is left out is reports of target practice with live rounds on the set, which were circulated in the media in the days after the shooting. Perhaps those reports have been proven to be unsubstantiated, but the documentary notes six live rounds were found on the set, while no possible explanations for this are mentioned.

In the end, there have been and will be more documentaries that cover this tragedy in some respect--I just hope this filmmaker gives us more of a personal look at Halyna Hutchins at some point to appreciate the human being and artist who was lost.